A Not So Ordinary Day
by daily-chan
Summary: Harry's birthday is spent cleaning, having fun and holding a little party. But nothing is ever completely as simple as that though. Takes place directly after Nightly Conversation. Contains Molly and Hermione bashing.
1. Chapter 1

_**Title:**__ A Not So Ordinary Day_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. If I had Sirius, Remus and Fred never would have died and there would have had been a whole lot of bromance than there is in Canon._

_Ron's P.O.V mostly though it slips sometimes. _

_**Warnings:**__ Involves a lot of talking. Molly bashing, some Hermione bashing and it might contain some Dumbledore Bashing. Insightful Ron in the first chapter. Strong bromance. Not slash between Harry and Sirius._

_All the background information given in this story is my own take on how things were. Mary MacDonald's actual fate is unknown so I gave my own spin to it._

_This is a direct Sequel to Home and Nightly Conversations. Takes place the summer before Taking Control and House Hunting. _

_**Summary:**__ Harry's birthday is spent cleaning, having fun and holding a little party. But nothing is ever completely as simple as that though._

_Special thanks to Kitty for her endless patience in beta reading my stories, fishing out the grammatical errors I make and giving me advice. And of course for our conversations, which never ceases to give me inspiration._

_**Chapter 1  
**_

Something was going on.

That was the first thought that entered Ron´s mind when he walked into the living room of number twelve Grimmauld Place that morning to find most of the usual occupants there.

Well, actually his first thought had been about being hungry, the whole reason he had finally gotten out of bed, but it was a close second upon opening the living room door and walking through.

It hadn't been his family, scattered around the room that had warranted that thought though. Neither was it the presence of Hermione curled up in a chair with a book.

The thought entered his mind because of the other three males sitting in the large chairs on the other side of the room in front of the fire. Or more specifically Harry.

For the last few weeks Harry had been badly tempered, yelling at the slightest trigger. He was mostly either grumpy or withdrawn. And Ron couldn´t even claim not to understand, with every little thing being hidden from him.

Ron had merely learned not to trigger Harry´s temper in any way to avoid being yelled at by his best friend. Not that Harry had ever reached the volume his mother did. Not even in his most angry mood was he ever able to reach that volume. But still it was in Ron´s best interest to avoid an angry Harry.

The point however was that Ron had become somewhat used to Harry´s mood swings in the short time they´d been together again this summer.

So he had been fairly surprised when not only had Harry been looking a lot more cheery the last few days since he´d begun to spend more time with his godfather and Remus. But this morning he was practically beaming as he chatted with the two animatedly while his hands gestured a mile a minute.

Not only that but both adults were wearing the same sunny expressions on their face as Harry had while they answered him, and the three gave out an air of contentment that Ron had never before witnessed on any of them.

So it was clear to even his thick skull that something big had happened between when they went to bed and him getting up this morning.

Harry had already been up and gone from the room when he woke up, which in itself wasn´t unusual for Harry at all so there wasn´t anything weird in that. What had been unusual was that he looked well rested for a change where normally he looked tired and grumpy.

Ron quickly moved to where Hermione was sitting and dropped down in the seat next to her as he somehow felt it wouldn´t be right to intrude on his best friend´s conversation.

"What happened?" he asked but rolled his eyes when he failed to get an answer. It was widely known and especially to him and Harry that when their friend was reading she was lost to the world. He shook her shoulder and repeated his question when she looked up from her book to glance at him confused.

"What do you mean?"

"With Harry," He said as he indicated his head to the three.

Hermione glanced at Harry for a moment before frowning and looking back at him.

"I don't see anything wrong with him"

"He's acting…unusual," Ron hesitated as he glanced at the three again.

Hermione followed his gaze before letting out an irritated sigh.

"He's just having fun with Sirius and Professor Lupin."

"He's not exactly been in a mood to be having fun lately has he?" Ron grumbled, not understanding how the bookworm next to him could not see it, especially if he could.

"All the more reason why we should just be happy that he's having a good time," she sighed as Ron gave her a sceptical look.

"Honestly Ron, Harry went through a really rough time. I think he's going to need every bit of fun he can have that's harmless to take his mind of what happened. And if Sirius can do that we should just let them be for the moment," she turned back to her book, clearly done with the conversation.

Ron frowned. He knew that Harry hadn't had the easiest life. But that wasn't what he meant.

Any retort he might have had in mind to throw at the girl was halted when Sirius suddenly roared with laughter, falling of his seat as he did. This caused Harry and Remus to laugh out loud too as all three clutched their sides while laughing, catching the attention of most of the people in the room.

"Honestly, how old are you," his mother exclaimed in clear disapproval of Sirius' actions.

"Old enough to be laughing at stupid jokes," Remus answered for him once he had calmed down again and helped his friend into his chair again, ignoring the way Ron's mother seemed taken aback by his answer and huffed before leaving the room.

"It wasn't a stupid joke," Sirius said between chuckles as he stuck out his tongue at Harry when he rolled his eyes at him.

"Really mature Paddy," Harry answered teasingly, his words sending Sirius of in a fit of laughter once more while Remus tried and failed miserably to keep his own expression straight.

"Paddy?" Fred asked curiously as the twins both turned their full attention to the three from their chairs a few meters away.

Harry flushed before he nodded.

"They've been telling me stories about when I was little and apparently I sometimes called him Paddy because I couldn't pronounce Padfoot properly."

Sirius laughed. "It was really funny, especially when he did it in public. I got so used to him calling me that or Siri that I listened to it without hesitation when he called out to me wherever we were."

"I remember when a girl in the local supermarket was mortified when she tried to ask Paddy on a date, only to learn his name wasn't actually Paddy. Harry had most of the staff there believing it was his name," Remus continued with a laugh.

"James had a field day teasing me about it."

"Like you actually minded," Remus retorted with a snort and Sirius laughed.

"It was funny and at least I got of luckier than Remus."

"What did he call Remus?" George asked curious as Harry flushed even worse than before but made no attempt to hide his face as he smiled.

"Remy or Mooey," Sirius answered seriously before laughing at Remus' flushed face.

"He was only a toddler so we let him call us as he pleased."

"What were his first words?" Fred asked curious, eagerly leaning forward at the chance to learn more about the boy who had done so much for him and his brother.

"I have to admit I have been wondering about that too," Harry admitted and Ron glanced at his friend, seeing him in a new light. He of course knew that Harry was an orphan. But somehow he had never truly realized what it meant to be growing up without a true family. Stupid things like first words and stuff like that were natural for Ron to know because his siblings teased him endlessly about his own first words; eat. Stupid things he did as a toddler, his family had loads of fun telling him stories about that.

Harry didn't know any of that, had never gotten a chance to learn either and now more than ever before did Ron realize just how much Harry must crave knowing things like that. How much Harry envied him for having a family that loved him.

Ron couldn't believe he had felt so jealous when Harry had been drawn to Sirius upon arriving at Grimmauld Place. He had felt disappointed that his best friend had been waiting to spend so much time with his godfather and had not understood it at all. What fun were adults at any rate, especially Sirius, who, before Harry had arrived, had been mostly withdrawn and moody.

Now he realized that to Harry, Sirius and to an extent Remus were his family. The only one he had. And his only link to his parents. Many people might have known his parents, but no one _knew _his parents the way those two had known them.

Sure, Ron and his family considered Harry part of their family, as one of their own, but he would never truly be a Weasley. Of course he would want to spend as much time as possible with what little family he had. Family that had been unrighteously kept from him for most of his life.

Sirius and Remus exchanged a long bemused look before Sirius beamed so widely even Ron had few qualms over what Harry's first word could have possibly been.

"Siri," Sirius answered proudly before laughing as Harry shook his head fondly.

"I should have known," He admitted with a laugh and Sirius stuck out his tongue while Ron had to bite his lip. Of course. It made sense that his best friend and his godfather used to be really close; the man had escaped from Azkaban and lived of rats for a long time simply because there was a hint of danger to his godson after all. Ron had realized the year before that Sirius must have really loved Harry to be willing to do all that for him, but now he realized the feeling was mutual, at least it had been when Harry was a baby. Not that Harry hadn't immediately grown to care about Sirius deeply once he learned he was innocent. Which had made Ron jealous, because besides himself Harry hadn't warmed up that quickly to anyone and yet Sirius had gotten a place in Harry's heart almost instantly from the moment he had nodded to him that he believed his story back in the Shack. And it had made Ron so jealous, knowing Harry had someone in his life willing to give up everything, to risk absolutely everything just to make sure he was safe. It wasn't something he saw his mother ever doing for him, despite her claims to love him, not while there were siblings like Ginny and Percy. But now, despite feeling jealous of his best friend, he also felt happiness at knowing his best friend had someone in his life who truly and utterly loved him for who he was and who didn't give a damn about his fame or what Harry had accomplished. It was something his best friend had clearly needed, and even if Ron himself couldn't have that, he could at least try to be happy for his friend.

"Yeah you should have. James was nearly in tears when you did, too. He had spent weeks trying to get you to say Dada before Lily would beat him with Mama but you refused to utter a single word no matter what he tried to bribe you with," Sirius answered, unaware of Ron's inner turmoil.

"Till Sirius came over after an Order mission and the moment you spotted him you loudly squealed 'Siri' while trying to reach him. Sirius was completely caught off guard while lifting you up. His and James' expressions were hilarious and Lily was in hysterics. I've never heard her laugh that hard before in my life," Remus said with a smile before he frowned a little.

"Thought to be honest it wasn't a big surprise to anyone that Sirius' name was the first thing you said. As I told you before, the two of you were completely smitten with one another from the first moment you saw each other," he directed at Harry as all three of them smiled fondly at some shared memory that made Ron's stomach clench slightly but he forced himself to ignore.

Harry smiled widely as his eyes shone in joy as he looked at Sirius who was still beaming.

"Though I think James was more upset when your second word was Paddy," Remus continued.

"Oh he was. He could live with the fact that I'd taken the first word, but the second as well? He kept whining…noooo Harry, say Daddy…Daddy!" Sirius said laughing while saying the last part in a deeper whiney tone that made Remus laugh and Harry smile.

"That was you imitating dad wasn't it? Poor dad, did I say Daddy after that?" Harry chuckled.

"No. As a matter of fact you called him Prong first. Because the two of you were so smitten with one another you were almost constantly together and he called James Prongs often enough. It was after you called him that that we realized just how much of an impact Sirius truly had on you and he began to call James and Lily Mummy and Daddy, which you took over quickly enough."

Harry laughed. "Bad influence all around, huh Padfoot?"

Sirius chuckled. "That is what your mother always said too if you threw one of your tantrums upon being taken from me."

Remus smiled. "Never stopped either of you though. You might have always called him your Siri; he called you his Prongslet too."

Harry blushed slightly but laughed when Sirius swiftly moved to pull him close for a hug.

"Mine!" he called out with a beaming smile.

Ron smiled at the action, pleased to see Harry so completely comfortable around the other man where he normally shied away from lingering touches. But he appeared to have no problem with Sirius holding him close. He turned to Hermione to comment on it softly but sighed when he saw her nose was still hidden in her book, clearly deaf to the conversation around her. She'd be angry later on at having missed it but he couldn't be bothered to alert her and turned back to the conversation.

"Yes, he'd say that any time James jokingly claimed you liked Sirius better," Remus commented while attempting to keep a straight face.

"He did?" Harry asked, leaning back against Sirius' chest when the older man moved him into the chair beside him more properly and kept an arm around his shoulder. Ron suppressed his surprise that they fit into the chair together, despite it being larger than average. But then again, neither of the two males had much flesh on their bones in the first place, so it wasn't exactly a tight fit either as they made themselves comfortable.

"All the time, which would result in you immediately going to give him a hug and a kiss and claim that Harry loved Daddy too. Truly adorable," Remus said with a fond smile.

"You forgot to add that after that he'd move right on to you to give you a sloppy kiss and a hug too, claiming he loved Remy too," Sirius added and this time Remus smiled warmly as he nodded.

"Always made me happy to know I was accepted by you without any hesitation. I especially loved your little hugs, which were a rare thing to be given to anyone besides your parents and Sirius."

"I'd forgotten about that. I was so used to being hugged by you all the time that I didn't realize you rarely hugged anyone besides your parents and me till Dumbledore came by and you absolutely refused to come anywhere near him."

"Actually no matter who visited you'd attach yourself firmly to Sirius' hip so to speak no matter who it was. If it was someone you liked you'd move Sirius to sit closer to them so you could play with them while being close to Sirius but otherwise you'd make him sit as far away as possible. You really disliked Peter too and were wary of Moody," Remus said with a smile.

Sirius chuckled. "It made Moody proud though that you had the good sense to distrust him. You did like to play with Fabian the few times he and his brother came over though."

"Fabian?" Harry asked confused and the Weasley children straightened a bit at hearing the name.

"You knew uncle Fabian?" Fred asked surprised. Ron gasped. Their Uncle had died when he himself had just been a toddler, how had Sirius known him and Harry too from the sound of it.

Sirius glanced at him before he nodded. "Yeah. He and his twin Gideon were older than us so we only truly interacted when we all joined the Order, but we got along brilliantly. Gideon was a bit more withdrawn than Fabian so he usually sat on the couch talking to Lily while the three of us played with Harry. Brought the two of you, Bill and Charlie over once or twice too while they were babysitting you to unburden your mother after your brother Ron was born. You four were the most troublesome apparently. I don't think they ever told her though, she'd have castrated them for bringing you into contact with us."

Both twins laughed before they both spoke at the same time as Harry.

"We played with Harry when he was a baby?"

"They played with me?"

At the same time that Ron exclaimed. "So you knew us when we were little?"

Sirius spared a glance at Ron with a nod as he answered him before turning to the twins who moved their chairs to sit closer to Sirius so they didn't have to strain themselves to be able to talk with him. Ron immediately followed their example, not bothering to stay beside Hermione while she was so absorbed in her book.

"Never met you or your sister and I only heard the twins mention Percy as their stupid big brother because he yelled at them all the time for their mayhem and was what Charlie and Bill called a bore. And I really didn't know the twins, Bill or Charlie very well either, only saw them a handful time but yes, the four of you did play with Harry. Made castles out of blocks and I remember your older brother pleaded with us to make dragons fly around the castle which the four of you would try to chase. I remember because the two of you pranked Charlie when he forgot you both while running after the dragons, despite the fact that they weren't the only ones left as he forgot about Bill and Harry too."

"They pranked Charlie for that?" Ron asked, delighted to hear he wasn't the only victim of the twins.

"That sounds like Charlie," Fred commented to everyone's bemusement.

"Oh yes. I'm not entirely sure what they did anymore but I do remember that Harry retaliated by turning their hair blue because Charlie had picked him up to reach the dragons so he didn't like the two of you ganging up on him."

"That's our partner!"

Harry laughed while the twins beamed, not in the least bit upset about it, and Ron felt another twitch in his stomach he fought to ignore. Why did his brothers like Harry more than him? From the moment they had met the Twins had been friendly to Harry, and not the awed struck kind of friendly either, but sincerely friendly while they were often bitchy to him and refused to acknowledge his existence.

The others were oblivious to his jealousy though as they both leaned forward to pat Harry on the back.

"And we never told mum either?" Fred asked surprised.

"Not as far as I know. Fabian told you guys that if you told her he wouldn't be able to babysit you anymore and bring you to visit us because your mum would say no. Kept you quiet easily enough," Sirius said with a smirk, making the others chuckle.

"Who else did Harry like?" Fred asked.

"McGonagall," Remus answered immediately, making Harry groan.

"I must have if Sirius considered her as a possible guardian if something happened to him," he shot back and Sirius smiled apologizing at him while the twins snickered.

"I think it had more to do with the fact that she had a huge soft spot for him and would turn into a cat whenever Harry asked her to so that he could play with her, Moony."

Remus laughed. "I remember. It's why you left your cat with them permanently. Harry loved petting her and Padfoot so much."

"I petted McGonagall while she was in her Animagus form?" Harry asked mortified and Sirius nodded.

All the younger Weasleys laughed, understanding perfectly why Harry would feel so mortified at the knowledge.

"Yes, you petted Padfoot too but somehow that doesn't seem to mortify you nearly as much."

"You are my godfather; she is my Professor and Head of House."

"You called her auntie Minnie," Sirius said offhandedly and Ron snorted loudly at Harry's horrified expression. He truly looked like he wanted to have the ground swallow him up and Ron couldn't blame him.

"I will never be able to look her in the eye again," he groaned and Sirius smiled.

"If it makes you feel better, I called her mum once when I was really sick and she was bringing me to the hospital wing. I eventually managed to look her into her eyes again too."

"Took you a few days to be able to do so once James told you about it though," Remus added with a laugh. "He was as mortified as you are now upon learning about it."

"That does make me feel a little better," Harry admitted.

"I could fill entire books with all the things you were up to as a toddler, pup. You were beyond adorable. "He said with adoration and a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"Please don't, I am mortified enough and I don't need you to give them any more ammunition to tease me," Harry said with a glance at the twins, who were smiling widely.

"We wouldn't dare to tease you, Harry," Fred said while trying to pull a serious face.

"Not in public anyway. Mum would only be too glad…"

"To tell you humiliating things about ourselves."

"That you'd be able to use against us," they concluded together.

Remus laughed. "You two sound exactly like Sirius and James would often act. Drove most of the Professors nuts when they'd complete each other's sentences or formed half of one and the other would already be answering before more than two words came out."

"Never mind mum, I'd be terrified of their wrath if you'd try to humiliate Harry," Ron shuddered with a nod to Sirius and Remus.

"How so?"

"The pranks they'd pull against you in retaliation would be terrifying."

"You are pranksters?" both Twins glanced at Sirius and Remus with hope entering their voices.

"Haven't you paid attention?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"Attention?" George asked confused.

"To what was said before. How did Harry call Sirius as a child?"

"Paddy," Fred answered immediately.

"Why?"

"Because he couldn't pronounce Padfoo…oh…OH!"

"No way!"

"You are Padfoot?"

"The Marauder's Padfoot?"

"Oh! And he called Harry's dad Prongs! This means that Harry's dad was a Marauder too!"

"Which leaves Moony and …of course! You are a werewolf…Moony!" Fred directed at Remus, who smiled at their awestruck looks. The twins turned to each other and at the same time exclaimed; "How did we miss that?!"

"I was listening so intensely to their stories that I didn't notice," the continued together before their mouths fell open and they turned to Sirius and Remus again.

Sirius blinked surprised at them. "How do you know about the Marauders?"

"They gave me the Marauder map in my third year after having stolen it from Filch's office in their first year," Harry answered for them as the twins were still in shock.

"I hope you got it out with flair?" Sirius asked with approval in his tone.

"We threw a few dungbombs," Fred admitted a bit hesitantly, clearly afraid to disappoint his long time heroes.

"Pathetic. Sirius turned his office in a rainbow of Colours once. And not just any Colours, Neon Colours that flashed for an entire week because the teachers were unable to undo his spell work," Remus said.

"Why'd you do that?"

"He kept following Remus around and sticking his nose where it didn't belong," Sirius said with a growl that surprised most in the room.

Harry glanced at the twins, unbothered by the sound Sirius had produced. "You know, I had half expected you two to throw yourself at their feet while drooling."

"We might still do that."

"Still in shock of learning that our heroes are sitting right before us."

"Heroes?" Sirius asked surprised. "We weren't heroes, just liked to play pranks to lighten everyone up during the dark times the war threw at us."

"You made people laugh, invented brilliant stuff and lightened the mood. That's hero material to us," George said.

Sirius and Remus looked at each other before Sirius shrugged. "We didn't invent that much. Spend most of our time working out how to become Animagus to be able to invent half of what we wanted to."

Ron glanced at the man surprised. He had thought the man would have been arrogant about his accomplishments. Most people would have been, especially Purebloods from darker families. He berated himself mentally as he realized he had thrown Sirius on the same pile as Malfoy, despite knowing how different he was. Purebloods would never do half the things Sirius had done, it was beneath them. He only had to look at his brother Percy to realize it was true. The only reason most of his own siblings probably weren't like that was probably because they had grown up so poor and had to do everything themselves. And yet, hadn't he himself thought himself to be above Harry because he knew so much more about the magical world? Could he truly claim he himself wasn't arrogant at all? Glancing at Sirius, he realized that if Sirius could be considered arrogant then he was a true git for how he had treated Harry the previous year. He had known Harry hadn't put his own name in the Goblet. And yet, despite knowing very well that his friend wouldn't have done it without him if he had found a way, he had let his jealously take over and treated his best friend horrible. And when their school mates had bullied Harry he had stood by, his pride stopping him from standing up for his friend, despite the knowledge that Harry would have stood up for him. If anyone was arrogant here it was him and he vowed to himself to do better no matter what. He was so deep in thought that he almost missed Fred's next question so he shook himself to pay attention again.

"Is that how you got your nicknames? We were never able to decipher them, though Moony is rather obvious now. I suppose Padfoot is due to your padded feet as a dog? Prongs…what form did Harry's dad take?"

"He was a stag, got the name Prongs because of his sharp antlers," Sirius answered with a nod.

Both twins nodded before they shared a look. Ron could see Sirius, Harry and Remus tense slightly and he knew the twins were most likely to ask about Pettigrew next and braced himself for the Marauder's anger. But as the twins looked at each other Fred shook his head almost unnoticeable before he leaned forward again and surprised Ron with his next words. "Could the two of you tell us about your pranks? We would love to learn from you."

Both Marauders visibly relaxed and Harry shot them a grateful smile when Sirius chuckled. "Sure, as a reward for getting the map back into the hands of its rightful owner I think we can share some stories. Though I've gathered from Harry's stories that the two of you manage perfectly fine on your own."

Both twins beamed at Sirius at the praise and nodded happily.

"Later though, we wouldn't want your mother to learn about it," Remus added softly before everyone heard hurried footsteps approaching.

"Who made that cake?!" Molly suddenly shrieked out of nowhere as she slammed the door open, catching Hermione's attention from her book too. She blinked a few times in surprise to see everyone sitting so close together before turning her attention to Molly while the Weasley children shrunk a little into themselves at her anger.

Sirius, Harry and Remus shared a quick glance before Sirius shrugged. "I did."

"Why did you make a cake?" Molly asked disbelievingly.

"Do I need a reason to make a cake in my own kitchen if I feel like it?" Sirius asked, his voice hardening.

"But if you must truly know, I made it for Harry's birthday."

"You shouldn't have made one; I planned on making one for him."

"You don't have to bother yourself for me Mrs. Weasley, Sirius made a delicious cake that's plenty big enough for everyone to have a piece. There's no need to go to the trouble for me. You are busy enough as it is," Harry said in a clear attempt to calm her down.

"It would have been my pleasure to make one for you, my dear. You do not have to claim to like the cake just to spare his feelings," Molly turned to Harry with a kind smile.

Remus snorted in disbelief. "Clearly you have never tasted Sirius' cooking before."

"Why would I want to?" Molly asked confused.

"Because Sirius is the best cook I've ever known."

"Surely you are exaggerating. You have tasted my cooking often enough by now haven't you Remus."

"Your cooking is nice Molly, I don't deny that. But Sirius' cooking is absolutely amazing."

"Just because I can bake doesn't mean I'm a good cook Rem."

"See, even he agreed that he's a horrible cook," Molly exclaimed.

"Always so modest when it comes to your cooking skills. And yet, your cooking is the only thing I've ever seen Moody run for outside of a battle," Remus said, ignoring Molly's words.

Sirius snorted. "Moody doesn't count, with the man's own lack of cooking skills it's not surprising he would run for a decent meal."

"Yet he has never run if Lily or I cooked. Nor have I ever seen him run for Molly's cooking. Yet, when learning you were cooking he immediately invited himself over after Order meetings. McGonagall too."

"That is hardly believable. Moody doesn't trust anyone's food," Molly sniffed.

"Oh he tested it and never filled his plate first, but once he dug in he wouldn't stop till all the food was gone. Harry too as a matter of fact."

"Harry was a toddler. He would have eaten baby fit food," Molly said snappily, clearly upset at the thought that anyone could be a better cook than her. And Ron couldn't blame her; his mother's cooking was fantastic.

"Harry never ate that rubbish if we could help it."

"We?" Fred asked curious.

"James and I. The first time we tried to feed him a bottle of baby food he spit it out so James and I both tried it and refused to give him that garbage ever again. I wouldn't have eaten it as Padfoot, let alone as a human. So we took fresh vegetables and other healthy food suitable for babies and mashed it so Harry could eat that. Worked wonders too as he always emptied his plate."

"You tried baby food?" Hermione asked perplexed.

"Of course, why would I try to feed a child something I had never tasted myself? James was of the same mind."

"You are insane enough to actually try baby food for that reason. But I would love to have a go at your cooking sometime soon Siri. If it's even remotely as tasty as your cake was then it should be marvellous," Harry said with a smile.

"It is really that good?" Ron asked hopeful. Maybe Harry would let them have a taste too, despite his mother's obvious disapproval.

"Best cake I've ever tasted, Remus told me last night that my parents always tried to get Sirius to cook for them so I'm very curious about his cooking."

"You are making us curious to this heavenly cake my friend. Any chance we could have a bite?" Fred asked teasingly.

Harry smiled before he looked at Sirius. "Could we?"

Sirius chuckled. "Why are you asking me? It's your cake."

"Yeah, but you aren't a big fan of sweets before noon."

"On normal days, but this isn't a normal day. On your birthday you can eat as much sweets as you want as long as you eat normal dinner too, which traditionally you get to choose too since it's your special day."

"I get to choose what we eat? Really?"

"Of course, anything you want, it's tradition."

"No it's not. We get our favourite cake or pie but have to eat what's on the menu," Ron argued. It wouldn't be fair if Harry got to choose whatever he wanted to eat while he never did. Even if it was his birthday, which had completely slipped his mind till Sirius mentioned it. He had left his present upstairs too.

"For Purebloods yes, but Harry is Lily's son and Muggle tradition is that people get to choose what they want to eat on their birthday. Lily always loved that tradition so we all took it over and I don't see why the same shouldn't go for Harry on his birthday."

"I had already planned to make soup since we'll spend most of the day cleaning," Molly said. "There is no time to spend a lot of time on dinner if we are to clean out the first floor today."

Sirius shrugged. "I have absolutely no intention of doing useless cleaning all day today. It's Harry's birthday so most of the day should be spend doing fun things as birthdays are meant to be spend."

"Honestly Sirius that's…" Molly stated to say irritated.

"Oh shut up. I won't have you ruin Harry's birthday with your useless cleaning obsession. He gets to do what he wants to do on his birthday and if you don't like that you can go brood in your bedroom or go cleaning yourself. Try my patience some more and I will lock you up myself," Sirius snapped at her with a hard glare in his eyes.

Molly snapped her mouth close and stared at him with unmistakable fear while almost everyone else stared at Sirius in shock. Ron gasped. He had never heard Sirius talk back to his mother like that before. He wondered for a moment what had changed before he caught the proud look in both Remus and Harry's eyes. Had those two talked to Sirius about his mother? It had caught even his attention that his mother had been absurdly hostile to Sirius from the moment they had arrived at Grimmauld Place. But what had surprised him most was that Sirius had let her walk all over him, which was not the image Ron had gotten from the man in the short time he'd known him. He had hardly been timid when trying to kill Pettigrew a year earlier though he had listened to Remus when he had demanded they told Harry the full story first. Had urged him on, but hadn't argued. And then he had listened to Harry when Harry had stopped him from killing Pettigrew. But they were people he clearly cared about so it made sense for him to listen to them. But for his mother Sirius clearly and openly felt absolutely no affection. He tolerated her presence at the house but didn't go out of his way to make her happy. Yet he let her berate him, walk all over him and be nasty to him without trying to defend himself. Since Harry had arrived he had started to argue but still never defended himself until now. Something clearly had changed and Ron would be willing to eat his shoe if it didn't have to do with Harry and what had happened that caused Harry to change so much overnight, too. Something that caused his mother to actually listen to Sirius´ anger and not argue. From the glance the twins exchanged Ron realized they knew something more about what had happened.

Sirius stared at Molly for a long moment with those cold eyes in warning before he turned to Harry and his eyes softened. "What would you like to do and eat?"

Harry visibly hesitated for a moment as he glanced at Molly nervously before his face hardened a bit and he looked at Sirius. "I don't mind cleaning for a while but it would be nice to play some games in the evening and talk some more? As for dinner, if I really get to choose I would like to taste your food."

Sirius nodded, clearly pleased with his decisions. "Sure, just name what you want to eat."

"I don't know really. I don't want to…yeah…sorry no trouble at all," he changed his words midsentence at Sirius raised eyebrow and chuckled a bit. "Sorry, force of habit."

"Is there anything you have always wanted to eat or really want to eat?" Remus asked, trying to help him decide.

"Well…often when Dudley was really annoyed he demanded pizza and the Dursley's would take him out for one. I've always wanted to taste it at least once," Harry answered after a long pause.

"Pizza it is. Any specific flavour in mind?" Sirius agreed.

"Not really. What do you guys all like?"

"What's Pizza?" Ron, Fred and George all asked at the same time while Molly sniffed but kept surprisingly silent.

"Oh Harry, Pizza is so greasy and fat. I doubt you'd like it," Hermione said in a small voice, clearly afraid to get Sirius' annoyance directed on herself but unable to keep completely silent.

"Only the ones you order at the shops are usually greasy. Not the home made kind. He said he wanted to taste my food so I'll simply make a home made one. When your mum introduced Pizza to us I liked the one with different kinds of cheese or chicken the most. If I remember correctly your mum loved the ones with fish and your dad was crazy about the cheese ones too. I'm not entirely sure about you…but I think you liked the fish one too because the meat one was overcooked for you?" Sirius finished questionably towards Remus.

Remus laughed. "Half right. I liked the cheese one too. The fish and meat were both to overcooked for me. Due to my lycanthropy I usually like my meat and fish half raw," he explained at Harry's questioning look.

"Euw that's gross." Harry said while making a face before blushing. "Sorry…I eh…"

"Yeah, your dad thought so, too. He didn't have a problem with rare meat but half cooked fish wasn't something he could understand, so we simply never ate it when we were all together," Remus interrupted with a laugh, clearly not the least bit offended at Harry's reaction.

"Your dad wasn't the only one; fish is full of bacteria and other stuff. Although salty herring wasn't so bad your dad absolutely refused to even touch it. About the only kind of food he stuck his nose up at," Sirius said with a smile.

"Fish isn't so bad, but I wouldn't want it raw either. Have I ever tasted pizza when I was little?" Harry asked.

"You didn't refuse any of the pieces we offered you so I think you liked them all well enough. How about I make a few different kinds so you can try it for yourself and the others can taste them all too since it's obvious they never had pizza either?" Sirius said in a compromise to the cheers of the Weasley children.

Harry nodded happily. "On one condition though."

"Which is?"

"I get to help you. You promised you'd teach me how to make cake, but I'd like to learn how to make other things too."

"You already know how to cook don't you?" Sirius asked confused. "Those sick bastards made you cook didn't they?"

"Yeah, but I've never enjoyed it. I would like to learn to cook new things that I might actually enjoy making from you."

Molly huffed and opened her mouth to speak but one glance from Sirius' angry grey eyes was enough to shut her up again and sit down on a chair, making Ron marvel at his ability to keep his mother quiet like that with a mere glance.

"All right, you can help me then. Erm…"

"If you write down what you need I'll get the groceries for you while you guys are cleaning," Remus answered his unspoken question.

"And get out from having to clean huh, sly Moony…really sly," Sirius said while placing a hand over his heart in fake hurt, making Harry laugh and Remus chuckle.

"You know me too well Pads. Just pass me the list, but I refuse to leave before I've had another piece of that delicious cake."

"I'll get it!" Fred immediately called out eagerly as he jumped up and ran out of the room.

"Don't forget plates and cutlery," Remus called after him bemused.

"I'll get those." George answered as he ran after his brother, clearly just as eagerly.

Ron shifted in his seat while Hermione picked up her chair and moved to sit beside him, seemingly not wanting to sit so far away. She had been remarkably quiet since Sirius' had snapped at his mum and Ron didn't mind her not nagging at him for a change.

Harry had turned to Sirius as the other produced a neatly wrapped package out of nowhere.

"What's that?"

"I did tell you you'd get your birthday present in the morning didn't I?"

"You already gave me a present," Harry said as he made a vague hand gesture in the air that made Sirius smile secretively and Ron frown. Why couldn't he just say what he had gotten?

"That was hardly your birthday present and more your good right, pup. This is your actual birthday present."

"What is it?" Harry asked as he accepted the package from Sirius and held it up to look at the wrapping. Ron couldn't see anything special about it, just plain yellowish paper but it made Harry smile for some reason.

"That's for you to find out," Sirius said with a tease. "It's from me and Remus both actually. Or actually, it is a Marauder present."

"Is it going to explode in my face? Make me grow antlers?" Harry asked while eying the package suspiciously.

"Just open it, pup," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Easy for you to say. You don't have a prankster for a godfather. I haven't forgotten those candles yet," Harry laughed before sticking out his tongue to Sirius.

"What candles?" Fred asked as he and George entered the room again and Remus flicked his wand to move the small table from the other side of the room to stand between their chairs so that Fred could place the cake on the table. George quickly dumped his load too before both sat down again.

"We chatted a bit last night and they gave me the cake. Sang me a song and had me blow the candles. Only they wouldn't go out no matter how hard I blew on them."

Fred and George chuckled. "Nice one. We used to play that one on Ron, fell for it every time."

"It's a treasured old one," Remus agreed. "Now open it."

Harry chuckled. "Impatient are we? If I were to be mean I would wait just to tease you," he fingered the package for a moment while Remus shifted in his seat and Sirius rolled his eyes again before chuckling again and carefully unwrapping the present.

"A box?" He asked as he stared at the large unmarked box.

"Yes, we gave you a plain box for your birthday," Sirius said with a nod. "Do you like it?"

Harry snorted. "Don't tease," he said while poking his elbow into Sirius' rib, making him godfather yelp.

He opened the box and glanced inside.

"Neat! A practical Defence book," he took the book out of the box before falling silent as he spotted what was underneath it.

"Sirius?" He asked as he looked up to his godfather in surprise who was watching him with a serious expression on his face.

"You are fifteen now, a few years older than when we started our research. Now, I don't want you to practice any of it without me present but you can read the theory behind it that we used in the meantime. And we thought you might like to have our notes on it. By the time you have the first two steps down, which you may practice on your own, it will be either Easter or summer unless you are a very quick student and then we'll just see."

"You are actually giving me permission to try and learn how to become one?" Harry asked making the others gasp as they realized just what Harry had been given but made Molly frown.

Sirius and Remus glanced at each other before Remus nodded.

"We've been talking about it for a while now actually. With all that's hanging over your head something like this is a great backup for any situation. And you did mention you would love to learn it so we figured you are old enough now that we can get away with giving it to you."

"He's much too young to learn something like that, it's illegal! What were you two thinking?!" Molly suddenly shrieked when she realized what they were talking about. She jumped up from her seat to make her way over to them, seemingly having forgotten Sirius' earlier threat.

Sirius looked up to her almost lazily. "Talking to me is illegal too in case you had forgotten, yet you do so and find it safe enough to have most of your children in my house. If you had listened you would have heard me say that I only want him to go over the theory for now, to research and not to actually attempt the transformation without me being present. So sit down and calm down."

"As for thinking, there's a mass murdering lunatic after him, who cares about legality if it could save his life some time?" Remus said.

"He's just a child!" Molly yelled but didn't advance further at Sirius' glare.

"Sirius and my dad were fifteen when they became Animagi. If anything you should be happy Sirius is willing to help me instead of letting me attempt to figure it out myself Mrs. Weasley. McGonagall told us all sort of things can go wrong if you try to do the transformation without professional back up. At least with Sirius I have someone who knows what I have to do and what to do if things go wrong. Because I doubt they managed it without trial and error." Harry told her.

"You could say that again," Sirius said with a snort and Remus smiled faintly as he nodded.

"They wanted to surprise me so they didn't tell me, but I've seen some of the errors they went though."

"Such as?" Fred asked curious.

"I remember Sirius having an extra pair of ears on top of his head a couple of weeks," Remus said.

Sirius laughed. "You forget to mention my matching tail. That one was a disaster, it was lucky our school uniforms weren't tight or it could have been a real pain."

Remus chuckled. "It was rather funny. I was curious to what they were up to but your dad and Sirius kept insisting they were just trying to find other uses for the Polyjuice potion."

"Your dad sported the beginning of antlers for a while too, but those were small enough that they were hidden by his messy hair and Remus never found out about those till we told him."

"About the only thing dad's hair was probably good for."

"Yeah, James and I took pictures of each other during the long and slow process, originally to amuse Remus with the stories once we'd have succeeded but we figured you'd like them too. And the best part is that they don't include Peter at all. He had no problem with his progress being noted but he didn't want to be photographed for it so you won't have to see his face, though I can't take his account out of the notes without messing up the research," Sirius sounded almost apologizing for his incapability to do so.

"You made pictures without the traitor being involved?" Harry asked surprised, reaching for the book but Sirius placed his hand on his.

"You can check it out later pup. We'll be here all day if you open it now because there's matching stories to the pictures you'll want to ask about. The pictures match the notes and research results but you'll want to know more so let's do it tonight, okay?"

Harry bit his lip before he glanced up at Sirius. "One peek?"

Sirius laughed and gave in easily. "Alright, one peek…take page fifteen, it speaks for itself."

Harry opened the book curiously and skipped to the mentioned page, trying not to peek while the others leaned forward, despite the book still being in the box and them not seeing anything. Even Molly shuffled slightly closer to take a peek. But Harry let out a snort and closed the book again, letting it slide back into the box completely.

He took the other book from his lap and put it back into the box too before turning to give Sirius a hug.

"Thank you both," He said while Sirius hugged him back and Remus squeezed his shoulder.

"Now, how about you share some more of that cake with us?" Remus asked.

Harry nodded, standing up to slice the cake in pieces.

"Are you going to leave a piece for Ginny too?" Hermione asked as she glanced at Molly before taking a plate from Harry.

"Where is Ginny anyway?" Ron asked, only now noticing his sister's absence.

"She's still asleep. Wasn't feeling well so I gave her a sleeping potion so she'd get some rest," Sirius answered.

"Ginny is sick? Why didn't you inform me?" Molly screeched.

"Because she's fine. I checked on her this morning and she was sleeping soundly and didn't have a fever anymore," Sirius answered calmly.

"You went into her bedroom!" Molly shrieked even harder than before, making everyone else wince but Sirius didn't bat an eye at her volume from so close by.

"It's kind of hard to check someone's health if you don't actually come in contact with them. She came downstairs last night but refused to let me alert you so I asked her if she wanted me to check up on her, which she did. I didn't enter your daughter's room with any bad intention if that's what you are saying. And since I knew you'd be hysterical about me trying to help I asked Remus and Harry to stay with me while I checked on her this morning."

"I still don't understand why you don't trust Sirius Mrs. Weasley. He's only been caring for your daughter's health, nothing more," Harry said with an angry undertone in his voice. Ron glanced at his friend but made no move to try and defend his mother from his friend's anger. If anyone deserved to get a good yelling at it was his mother for how she was treating Sirius. If Harry was getting at the end of his patience his mum was in for something and Ron looked forward to see that happen. How would his mum react if her perfect Harry yelled at her for a change? To Ron it was only a matter of time it was just the question of who would explode first, Harry or Sirius. He'd put his money on Harry if he had any, the annoyance over her behaviour towards his precious godfather had been building up since he'd arrived and was bound to explode while Sirius seemed remarkably calm under her anger. The man must have nerves of steel, Ron thought secretly.

"A male has no business in a young girl's bedroom dear. He should have gotten me."

"Ginny didn't want him to alert you, he just told you," Harry said impatient.

"It's Sirius mum. What do you think he was going to do to Ginny? Slit her throat?" George said disbelievingly.

"If he wanted to harm any of us he'd have done it when we first arrived, not take our noise, mess and your rudeness for weeks and then kill us one by one in our sleep once Harry's arrived," Fred continued bravely.

"Don't talk like that!" Molly shrieked while Sirius shrugged.

"I wouldn't harm you guys, you are both kind. But I could always blame Kreacher for the others. I'm sorry Arthur but Kreacher just lost it. He can't act against me or Harry and I think he actually fears Moony and the twins were out of his reach but your wife, son and daughter…well…I am truly sorry." Sirius said in a fake miserably sorry voice that made everyone except Hermione and Molly laugh.

"That's not funny!" Both exclaimed angrily, but Sirius simply shrugged.

"Why wouldn't Kreacher be able to act against me?" Harry asked confused.

"Because you are my heir, of course. He can't act against the heir without permission, which he sure as hell is never going to get from me."

"I'm your heir?"

"Have been since you were born. I blood adopted you when you were twenty four hours old."

"You blood adopted him? But that means that legally he's considered your son!" Fred said amazed and Ron stared at Sirius. Was he Harry's legal family. He knew the Black family was ancient and possessed a lot of money. If Harry was his heir he'd inherit all of Sirius' money someday above the fortune he already possessed. It wasn't fair!

"Not that the Ministry cares but sort of yeah."

"But what about if you'd ever have your own children?" Hermione asked.

"Never going to have them."

"You can't?" Hermione asked with a gasp.

"I refuse to have any. The so called pure Black line dies when I do," Sirius answered a little irritated.

"But if Harry's your heir wouldn't it continue through his blood then since you blood adopted him?" George asked curiously.

"No, because his grandmother was a Black he's already got Sirius' blood running through his veins at any rate," Remus answered.

"My grandmother was a Black? We are related?" Harry asked perplexed. Sirius blinked at him confused.

"Yes, I told you that didn't I?"

"No you didn't!" Harry exclaimed.

"Yes I did, I told you all the pure bloods are interrelated."

"So dad and you were related?"

"Yeah, your grandmother was my great-aunt."

"So that means we are related too?"

"Logically yes and you are related to the Weasleys through my blood, too."

"Wicked! You are our cousin!" Fred and George exclaimed while slapping Harry on his back, making Ron's stomach clench again even while he smiled at the thought of having Harry as part of the family after all.

Harry smiled at them before turning his attention back to Sirius. "So we are cousins even more times removed?"

"I think so. I've never been really good at remembering that stupid family tree inside out despite how much they tried to drill it into me when I was little. They didn't like it one bit when I said I only had to remember that the Black family line consisted out of a bunch of overly inbred idiots to know it. Not one bit," he repeated as he looked pained for a moment before shaking his head and cheerfully continued.

"But besides that stupid tree your dad performed a blood ritual with me when we were sixteen, too, which definitely makes you my nephew."

"A what?" Harry asked confused and Remus stared at Sirius in surprise.

"I didn't know you guys actually went through with that."

"Yeah, shortly after I ran away. Mum and Dad accepted me into their home as a second son without any hesitation but James wanted to make it real. They couldn't adopt me without my parent's legal consent because I was a minor and they knew my parents would never say yes so they gave James permission to perform a blood ritual." He turned to Harry. "In Muggle terms it basically means we became blood brothers. I became part of the Potter family line and he became part of mine."

"Sweet, and with you blood adopting me…"

"You are legally seen as my heir."

"So technically I am your son?"

"Not really, for that you need a blood adoption ritual. But it's truly only a small technicality."

"Oh. So what does being your heir entitle?" Harry asked, doing a very good job of hiding the slight disappointment in his voice.

"That upon the event of my death you will inherit everything I possess," Sirius answered with a smile. "Yes, that includes Kreacher if he doesn't do us a favour long before that time."

Harry made a face and stuck out his tongue. "I prefer to keep Kreacher around if it means you'll become very old."

"Yeah, seconded. But we could always hope he dies early right?" Sirius said hopeful to Harry's amusement.

"Kreacher isn't in his right mind. You shouldn't talk so badly about him," Hermione grumbled.

"I'll talk about that stupid elf the way I want to," Sirius shot back before accepting the plate Remus handed him, having taken over from Harry when he got distracted. "Thanks."

"Well, tuck in," Harry said with a smile as he picked up his plate, dropped back beside Sirius in the same chair, to Ron's amusement, and tucked into his cake.

The others followed his example, only Hermione and Molly seemed hesitant though Hermione took a bite too.

"Wow, you weren't kidding," Fred and George said. "This is fantastic!"

Sirius smiled. "Glad you like it."

"When did you make this?" Ron asked around a mouthful of delicious cake. He hadn't seen Sirius work in the kitchen or he'd have heard his mother scream about it before.

"Last night. I couldn't sleep so I figured I'd take the time to make it then. Remus came to help me."

"More like I came to empty the bowl after you put the cake into the oven," Remus said with a chuckle and Sirius shrugged. "You always do. It's remarkable how good your timing is to arrive just when I'm about to finish preparing the stuff I'm baking so you can empty the bowl."

"I arrived too late though," Harry said with a pout.

"You weren't supposed to know about the cake till morning actually. I already started later than planned because Ginny interrupted me but you weren't expected till much later."

"What were you doing in the kitchen during the night?" Ron asked as he looked at his best friend. Curious to learn just what had happened.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Nightmares again?" Hermione asked sympathetically.

"No, Ron's snoring," Sirius answered while Harry looked alarmed that Sirius told them that.

"I don't snore," Ron exclaimed scandalised, causing everyone else to stare at him in disbelief.

"Yes you do, I can hear you two floors up. The first time it happened I thought it was Remus chopping wood for his fireplace in the forest. But upon realizing we weren't at his house anymore I got up to find out what the noise was and it was you. I'm surprised your dorm mates get any rest at all at night," Sirius said with a pained expression.

Remus nodded. "I thought Peter snored loudly but you match him perfectly. If I don't put Silencing Charms on my bedroom door I can't sleep."

"You get kind of used to it after a while; we don't usually hear him anymore," Fred and George said while Harry snorted.

"Really? It's not unusual that he wakes me several times a week with his snoring and I can't get back to sleep. It's not so bad when I'm the one who sleeps earlier then I can sleep through it most of the time," Harry answered before he turned to Sirius. "I didn't hear him in your room anymore so how did you solve the problem?"

"I put a Silencing Charm on my door too. Normally I don't because I want to be able to hear if you are all right but since you were with me I used it. Kept you sleeping like a block too."

"You slept in Sirius' room?" Hermione asked suspicious.

Harry blushed as he realized the rest was still there too but nodded. "Yeah, I went downstairs for a cup of chocolate when Sirius offered and I took his offer. Had a good night's sleep for a change."

"So it's partly my fault that you've been sleeping badly?" Ron asked horrified, unable to deny his snoring if everyone said he did so. He felt horrible at the knowledge that he might be partly responsible for his best friend's lack of a good night's rest.

"Partly," Harry admitted hesitantly.

"Why didn't you say so?" Ron asked hurt.

Harry shrugged. "It's not like you do it on purpose. And our dorm mates never mention it too, they usually sleep through it. Dean and Neville snore a bit too so I doubt they ever notice."

"I'll teach you the Silencing Charm so you can erect a shield around your bed, you won't have to hear them and they won't hear you," Sirius offered to which Harry nodded happily.

"We aren't allowed to practice magic outside of school," Hermione said quickly.

"And who's going to tell them if he does?" Remus shot at her as he levelled her with a glance.

"The Trace will alert the Ministry," she defended herself.

"Only in a house with Muggles does the Trace work properly as they can't see who performs the magic in a magical house and expect the parents to control their offspring," Remus answered.

"But that's unfair! That means those living with magical relatives can secretly use and practice magic while Muggle-borns can't!" she exclaimed in anger.

"Welcome to my world when Dobby used magic and I got punished for it," Harry grumbled.

"We'll clear that up one day pup. In the meantime you can just use one of the old practice wands so they can't trace the spell back to your own wand," Sirius assured him.

Hermione bristled. "But…." A glare from Sirius prevented her from continuing though she crossed her arms in disapproval.

"You have more than one wand?" Fred asked.

"Yes, my own wand was taken from me upon my arrest fourteen years ago, so after arriving here I started to use one of the wands my ancestors kept here in case of emergency. I could hardly walk into Ollivanders to get a new wand. Though a not so little birdie stole my original wand from the Ministry files and returned it to me. I've always loved this wand too as the Potters bought it for me after I ran away," Sirius said while twirling his wand between his fingers.

"My grandparents bought that wand for you?" Harry asked as he looked at the wand. Upon noticing his glance Sirius handed Harry the wand so he could look at it more properly.

"Yes, I ran away without my wand, which actually was when I discovered I didn't need a wand to be able to change into Padfoot anymore. But I kind of needed a wand to be able to go to school so your grandfather got me a new one."

"It's cleaner than mine," he admitted before taking out his own wand to compare it, making the many fingerprints on it stand out next to Sirius' clean wand.

"I usually clean it every day. Your wand is like an extension of your hand, it's important to keep it in good conditions or there is the possibility it might snap during battle."

"That can happen?" several voices asked at once alarmed and Ron immediately vowed to clean his wand more often.

"Oh yes. It happened to a friend of your mum's, Mary MacDonald, in fifth year. She was cornered by Mulciber and tried to duel with him but her wand cracked and snapped, leaving her unable to defend herself against his sick sense of humour," Remus answered with a nod to Harry.

"What happened to her?" Harry asked.

"He cursed her with Dark Magic. Not sure what exactly happened. Wouldn't tell us though we made Mulciber pay for attacking a Gryffindor like that," Sirius told them with a hard expression.

"Are both still alive now?" Harry asked.

"Mulciber is in Azkaban and Mary disappeared shortly after graduating from Hogwarts," Sirius said softly.

"They never found her?" Hermione asked softly, having stopped her furious muttering to be able to participate in the conversation again. Though she still kept her arms crossed.

"A lot of Muggle-born witches and wizards disappeared after graduating. Many went into hiding while others were killed by Death Eaters during the war. There are many people that were never located. Perhaps they found it safer to simply remain in hiding," Remus said equally softly.

"It were dark times," Sirius agreed with a nod. "Speaking of dark, we'd better get on with doing some cleaning before the day is over."

Everyone groaned but moved from their spots regardless and Sirius quickly wrote down a list for Remus who left to do the grocery shopping while the rest made their way upstairs to start with the cleaning.


	2. Chapter 2

_Contains Molly and Hermione bashing so you have been warned._

_Chapter 2_

They spend most of the remainder of the morning cleaning in the rooms upstairs. Close to noon Ginny finally joined them, clearly feeling much better, though she was still a bit sluggish. But she didn't argue about not wanting to help clean and quickly joined the rest.

Most of them were more than happy when Sirius, despite their mother's insistence it would be quicker if they all took a closet of their own, absolutely refused to let them touch anything before he had a look at it himself. He claimed most of the items were filled with or covered in Dark Magic and were very dangerous. Not that Ron could truly blame his precaution even when Hermione muttered that he was being overly worried. It had only been the other day that he had been almost strangled by a pair of robes. And that was hardly the only scary object they came across. So Ron was happy that Sirius took the lead.

Most of what Sirius picked up he determined safe enough and worthless to their needs and then passed it on so it could be thrown in the garbage bag. It was actually only Harry's logic that stopped him from throwing out all the silver embossed with the Black family crest without hesitation too.

"I know you don't want it, but we could remove the crest and then sell the bunch and go on a lovely vacation together once you are free," Harry said as he learned it was solid fifteenth-century Goblin-wrought silver, which according to Fred and George was worth tons.

So they collected the silver and other heirlooms in a separate bag after removing the crest with a nifty spell Remus had picked up somewhere. It was decided that they'd ask Remus and Kingsley to sell the goods, knowing those two would ensure they got a good and fair deal out of the items.

Ron's eyes glanced at the bag repeatedly as it filled quickly, wondering how much Galleons they would receive for the entire bag. He had to squash down the very familiar feeling of jealousy he felt boiling up at seeing all the riches. Despite feeling that they should receive something for all this work they were doing, it was Sirius' money. But he couldn't help eyeing a pair of small silver cups, knowing those alone would probably bring up more than fifty Galleons each from what Fred had said.

Harry's words had enough of an influence that when Mundungus Fletcher showed up a little while later, Sirius took him aside to have a few words with him. Molly, immensely annoyed about Mundungus turning up, immediately excused herself and left the room to make some tea for herself.

Ron didn't know what was said but Mundungus paled considerably as Sirius spoke and nervously rubbed his hands as Sirius smiled. He left rather quickly after that and Sirius joined them cheerfully again.

"What did you say?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well, Hestia Jones warned me before that Dung has been pilfering stuff from the house on his visits. I didn't really care before but Harry's right so I told him that I placed modified Anti Theft charms on the house itself, meaning only I or someone I appoint can remove something. If something is removed from the property without my permission they'll receive quite a painful reminder that theft is illegal."

"Such as?" Ron asked nervously.

"Their fingers will be chopped off and they'll receive a shock not unlike the ones you get from a fence under high voltage in the Muggle world," Sirius said cheerfully.

All the others stared at him in shock for a long moment. Fred hesitated before he asked; "But...what if we take out the trash or something?"

"Oh don't worry. It would only activate if someone left the house with the intention of stealing anything. If it is done accidentally it wouldn't activate."

Harry let out a relieved breath. "But...will he lose his fingers for good if he steals then?" he asked worriedly.

"Nah, I'm not that evil. They can be reattached without a problem if quick enough. It is just meant as a clear warning to keep fingers to themselves," Sirius said with a smile as he ruffled Harry's hair.

Harry didn't seem to notice as he smiled but Ron couldn't help but focus on the _themselves _ part of what Sirius had said. He couldn't think of anyone besides Mundungus who'd want to steal anything from Sirius, outside his own darker thoughts that was. He swallowed as he caught Sirius' gaze for a short moment and realised he knew. He wouldn't call him out on it but he was aware what he was thinking and had just given him a hidden warning.

"Sirius mate, I think you have a wicked sense of humour," Fred laughed as he clapped Sirius on his shoulder.

"You call that humour?" Hermione asked in a high pitched voice, upset at the ease with which they spoke of what Sirius had done.

"Yeah. Now Dung will be on his toes and nervous every time he's in the house. He's so used to snatching stuff away; it will be fun watching him fumble to behave himself. And Sirius did give him a fair warning in advance. So yeah, we call that humour," George answered.

Hermione huffed but Harry shrugged. "He is fairly warned. Actually we all are."

"You can take anything you'd like Harry. You wouldn't need to ask my permission, Remus neither, how often he leaves the house to do groceries or so with the book he's reading still attached to his eyes." Sirius said with a laugh, making the others smile as they realised how true that probably was.

"And you two can take all the stuff you need for your inventions too," Sirius said with a nod to the twins. "Actually, if you need anything else, just ask and I'll see what I can do because I don't know what you'd need and not everything in this house is actually safe to use."

"Thanks!" Fred and George said happily. "We were going to ask you later but we took some Doxies from the drawing room to experiment with the other day."

"I know," Sirius said with a mischievous smile.

"You do?"

"Of course I do. Just because I don't say anything doesn't mean I don't see things. Harry told me what you are using them for so you are more than welcome to use them."

"Harry told you?" Fred asked.

"Yes, I asked him what you guys were going to use them for, worried you might want to use them for pranks, in which case I would have stopped you as Doxy Venom can be quite dangerous if an antidote isn't applied immediately. But then Harry told me what you actually wanted them for so I didn't see any harm in letting you use them."

The twins stared at him in surprise for a moment before they both grinned. "You are even more awesome than we thought. Mum didn't notice...at least...we think she didn't."

"I think we would all know if she had noticed," Sirius said with a shrug, making everyone chuckle as they realised he was referring to her tendency to scream at the top of her lungs. Only Hermione huffed but didn't try to defend her.

"I hope you guys aren't mad at me for telling him, but he asked and I didn't see the harm in telling him," Harry apologized.

"Not at all. Even when we didn't know about him knowing about the Doxies or that he's a Marauder we wouldn't have minded. We know he wouldn't have told mum and he's been interested in what we do since we came here," Fred smiled.

"Speaking of what you do, Remus got his hands on a whole bunch of weird looking ears that he saved from your mother's wrath. We hid them in Harry's trunk so he can return them to you guys at Hogwarts. It might be wise to hide anything else you want to keep secret inside his trunk too before going off to Hogwarts. I caught rumoured plans of checking your trunks for any suspicious goods."

"Won't she check Harry's too, then?" Fred gave a small whoop of delight. After that he shared a look with George worriedly, probably thinking of the many items their mother wouldn't approve of that they had hidden in their trunks.

"As if I'd let her. She has no business to stick her nose inside my godson's trunk. I can't stop her from checking yours but I've charmed his so that only he can open it," Sirius said with a snort.

"When did you do that?" Ron asked surprised, not having seen Sirius in their room at all.

"The morning after I arrived. He said it was to keep Kreacher from my personal belongings but then asked if I rather had he put a personalised charm on it instead," Harry answered.

"But you entered it to put those ears in for the twins," Hermione countered with a glance to Sirius.

"Harry gave me permission to enter his trunk at any given time," Sirius replied.

"Then, we would love to take your offer, if Harry is all right with it?" Fred asked with nod to Harry.

"Of course. I wouldn't have told him to make the offer if I didn't agree with it," he shrugged.

"What else are you hiding away from Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"That is for us to know and for you to never find out. And don't even bother thinking about alerting Molly to what we've done. She won't be able to enter the truck and I will get violent if she dares to yell at Harry or try to make him open it," Sirius warned her immediately.

Hermione hesitated before snapping her mouth close at his harsh words, probably seeing the same truth in his eyes as Ron did. He wasn't joking about what he'd do. That much was plain to see. And although Ron didn't want his mother to get hurt, he knew Sirius would be in his good right to protect his godson's rights.

"Good. Shall we continue before your dear mother tells us we are slacking off?" he asked with a wink, making most of the teenagers chuckle and hurry to take their places again. Just in time too before Molly returned, having realised Mundungus had left.

She almost missed a step upon entering and seeing them all dutifully at work, clearly having expected them to be slacking off and joined them without another word.

They spend a few minutes working in relative silence before Sirius tapped a big silver crate with his wand.

"Looks safe...let's see what's in it," he said as he pulled on the crate to remove it from its place.

As Sirius pulled the heavy crate from the shelf to place it on the ground a golden locket fell from the shelf and hit the ground.

Ron bent to pick it up as he was closest to it.

"This fell off the shelf," he said as he held it out to let it drop into Sirius' hand.

Sirius reached out his hand without looking up from the crate but the moment the locket touched his fingers his face drained of any colour and he let out a strangled gasp. He withdrew his hand immediately, making the locket fall to the floor again as Ron had let go of it.

"Oi watch it," Ron grumbled as he knelt to pick the locket up once again.

"Leave it!" Sirius grabbed hold of his arm and forcefully pulled him up and away from it, ignoring Ron's startled yelp.

"Don't touch that, no one touches it understood?" he said with a direct look at the twins, his face even paler than normally.

Both immediately nodded upon seeing his expression, moving slightly backwards to indicate they had understood. As did Harry, who had moved closer to Sirius upon his gasp but now kept his distance without questioning his godfather.

"What is it this time?" Molly sighed. It began to annoy her that he wouldn't let them touch anything until he had determined it was safe to do so.

Ignoring her Sirius crossed the room to grab a funny looking item before using a piece of cloth to pick up the locket and deposited it into what Ron could only identify as a weird looking jar.

"Go get Remus. I need to check something," Sirius ordered Harry who nodded and quickly left the room.

"What is it?" the twins asked curiously but not moving from their spot to get a closer look. Ron hesitated, but didn't dare to take a step forward after Sirius had so forcefully pulled him away.

"If I am right then it is unbelievably dark magic. Darker than anything I've ever seen in this house," Sirius answered.

"Is it dangerous?" Ron asked worried, having been the only one to touch it.

"Don't worry, it's only dangerous if you touch it for a prolonged amount of time and in this case probably wear it. But I'm not taking any risks," Sirius reassured him, picking up on his thought pattern.

"But you wouldn't touch it!" Ginny exclaimed.

"I've been exposed to dark magic before. I immediately recognised the touch and magical signature and it hurt me. You probably didn't feel anything because you have never been exposed to it before."

"You've been exposed to dark magic?" Fred asked but Sirius didn't answer as Harry walked in again with Remus right behind him.

"What is it?" Remus asked as he moved towards Sirius while Harry moved to stand next to the twins.

"This...better not touch it though," Sirius held up the jar and Remus looked at it, keeping his arms at his side so he wouldn't be tempted to touch it. Clearly taking his friend's warning to heart without questioning him. Ron wondered why it was that everyone listened to him so readily. Even Fred and George, who normally didn't listen to anyone, obeyed him after a single glance.

"Why is that thing giving me goose bumps even from this far away?" Remus asked, eyeing the jar suspiciously and rubbing his arms as Sirius placed it on the ground and knelt by it.

"Because you are a werewolf and this is very dark magic," Sirius said with a sigh. "And you've just confirmed my suspicions to what exactly it is."

"But he doesn't react to anything else in this house. Why would he react to this dark magic?" Harry asked confused though everyone else immediately backed off even more at Sirius' words.

"Because this is much viler and darker magic than anything else in this house," Remus said without taking his eyes from the locket.

"Is that thing alive?" he suddenly asked as he backed away from it a little.

"In a matter of speech," Sirius answered quietly as he looked up to Remus.

"So you were right," he whispered. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"With your reaction to it just now, I'm absolutely positive," Sirius said with a sigh.

"And you know for sure it belongs to him?"

"No doubt about it, I recognised the signature the moment I touched it. It burned my fingers," he admitted as he help up his fingers for Remus to see. Remus took a hold of his hand to examine the burned digits.

"If those are caused by dark magic they won't heal magically," he said as he very carefully tapped them with his wand but nothing happened.

"Yeah, what else is new." Sirius replied sarcastically, making Remus smile wryly.

"Is he all right?" Harry asked worriedly as he had tensed at hearing his godfather was hurt.

"I'm fine, just a couple of painful fingers," Sirius assured him with a smile, making Harry relax again.

"Do you want to test out your theory tonight?" Remus asked.

"Not on Harry's birthday. I'll lock this safely away for now, and then you can bandage my hand as I know you are itching to do and we can continue."

"You know me too well," Remus said with a small smile.

"What are you two talking about?" Molly demanded in a tired voice. She had been remarkably quiet but spoke up now.

"Something personal. Don't touch anything while I'm gone," he ordered as he picked up the jar and left the room.

"Don't forget bandages!" Remus called after him before he walked to a chair and sat down.

"Why can't we just continue while he's gone? We've done so before," Hermione said irritated.

"That was cleaning draperies of a Doxy infection and things like that. We can't continue cleaning the actual rooms without Sirius' help to determine items are safe," Remus sighed.

"Honestly, what could possibly be here that is truly considered dangerous," Molly asked. "We are with two adults here, I am sure we can handle things just as well, if not better than Sirius can."

"We are in the house of one of the darkest and most dangerous magical families in the world. You cannot possibly be naive enough to believe you can handle things in here on your own," Remus snapped.

"We haven't seen anything harmful so far," Hermione defended Molly.

"Honestly? A music box trying to put us all into a defenceless sleep, biting silver boxes and hostile clocks. Murderous robes trying to strangle us. I'd hate to see your definition of harmful," George said in disbelief.

"She thought it worse to be expelled than to be almost killed by a three headed dog in our first year. Should tell you something about her priorities," Ron grinned, not even trying to defend his friend.

Hermione huffed before crossing her arms and turning away from Ron.

"Actually that music box was developed to lock people in a nightmarish dream in which the owner of the box could mentally torture them endlessly without ever leaving a mark on the victim's body. We are lucky Ginny closed it when she did," Remus admitted.

"How do you know that?" Fred asked surprised.

"Sirius told me and James about it once," Remus answered.

"He didn't mention knowing what it was before," Hermione said snippily.

"We have the misfortune that Sirius doesn't have a clear memory of most of the items in this house," Remus said.

"Why doesn't he remember things clearly, he grew up here," Hermione asked.

"Seriously? He has spent twelve years in a hellhole being mentally tortured by his own worst memories. I think it's remarkable that he isn't barking mad. Who cares if he doesn't remember every single item in a house he absolutely hates," Fred snapped as he defended Sirius, making Harry smile.

"Do you know every single item your parents possess? Who knows if he's even most of these things from close up, let alone knows what they are. He hated his family, what makes you think he'd be remotely interested in their dark items?" Harry added with irritation in his voice.

"No...I...I just thought he would at least recognise some things," Hermione stuttered out, looking at Harry and Fred in surprise for their tones.

"Ginny, don't touch anything," Remus warned the red haired girl as he noticed her wandering close to the closet.

"I just want to check out this coat stand, it looks funny," Ginny said stubbornly as she opened the closet door completely to get a better view.

The moment she did, the same stand she had wanted to check out suddenly ran forward on its own, its hooks slapping around her throat and lifting the girl completely from the ground in one fluid movement.

Ginny didn't get a chance to do more than let out a gasp as the hooks locked around her throat, effectively starting to choke her.

"GINNY!" Molly screamed as she started to pull hysterically at the stand, trying to loosen it from her daughter's rapidly colouring skin.

"Molly, let me help her!" Remus called out as he raised his wand to get a good aim to release Ginny while the others tried to help too. But Molly pushed them all away from trying to help in her panic and pulled harder at the hooks, but they didn't give way at all and Ginny barely wheezed as she herself clawed at the hooks in pure panic too.

"Move!" Sirius suddenly called, making everyone but Molly scatter immediately to give him room.

He didn't waste time trying to reason with her and with a single sweep of his wand he bodily threw her across the room, knocking the wind out of her.

Another sweep and the coat stand froze immediately. Sirius effortlessly cut the hooks locked around Ginny's throat off, taking a hold of the girl so she didn't fall to the ground.

He moved his wand over her motionless body and she immediately started to cough violently.

"Easy. Try to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth," Sirius said as he helped her sit down on the ground. He summoned a large glass of water and held it out to Remus, who had moved to his side and took it from him, kneeling next to the gasping girl who struggled to do as Sirius had said.

"You stupid cow," Sirius suddenly spat harshly as he stood up, making everyone else jump.

"Don't call my daughter that!" Molly shrieked, having recovered her breath and scrambling up again.

"I wasn't talking to your daughter. What were you thinking?"

"I was trying to save my daughter!"

"If that is your definition of trying to help then I never want you near Harry in a case of emergency. You almost got your daughter killed."

"I tried to remove those hooks! Which is in your house so if anything you almost got her killed!" Molly screamed in anger.

Sirius made a disbelieving sound and he wasn't the only one as everyone looked at her in disbelief.

In three quick strides he crossed the room and grabbed hold of Molly's dress, pushing her against the wall with force. Molly shrieked in fear as Sirius immobilized her with one hand, his other holding up his wand. Panic seemed to grab a hold of her again as she tried to claw at his hand to no avail.

Sirius' eyes flashed with anger as he stared at her, making everyone shift uncomfortable though no one made an attempt to stop him.

"Even now, I am hurting you, threatening you and you waste important time with uselessly clawing at my hand and shrieking at me. What sort of a worthless witch are you," He hissed at her as he tightened his grip.

"I could kill you right this instant and you would be incapable of stopping me because you are in a useless panic and haven't even thought about your wand," he glared at her but didn't release his grip even as her eyes widened and she tried to grab for her wand.

"One freezing charm and your daughter would have been fine. But you choose to panic and become hysterical instead of acting and it almost got her killed."

His voice was calm and steady as he spoke, though there was no mistaking the anger in it. Without warning he suddenly released her, making her fall against the wall and slide down it.

"Congratulations Weasley. If we had been in battle you just successfully got your daughter killed. And don't even dare to try and pin this on me. I warned you all not to touch anything while I was gone. Ginny disobeyed my order and it almost got her killed. I get that children are curious but you as her mother should have stopped her."

"I can't control what she does," Molly said hoarsely.

"No? If I tell Harry not to touch something he listens to me. I certainly don't control him but he is smart enough to know when to listen to me. Even the twins listened to me when I told them not to touch anything. They are smart enough to realise I say something for a reason," Sirius snapped back at her.

"My daughter isn't stupid!"

"She disobeyed a direct order, despite knowing the dangers of the objects in this house. I do call that stupid," Sirius replied harshly.

"Sirius," Remus warned softly.

"No, he's right. I was an idiot. First I didn't listen to him and then I made the mistake of panicking. If anything I should have learned from Harry that keeping your wits makes the difference between life and death," Ginny said softly, her voice slightly raw. She had regained most of her normal colour again and was sitting unattended by Remus and was looking determinedly to her mother.

"You wouldn't have known how to get loose; you don't know any freezing charms!" Hermione exclaimed in her defence, despite the fact that she herself had been using freezing charms since second year.

"I suppose Stupefy or Petrificus Totalus makes people dance then."

"Petrificus Totalus doesn't work on objects," Hermione snapped.

"Then I suppose Ginny's currently dead," Sirius' voice was funny of irritation.

"Sirius!" Remus warned him again.

"Sorry Remus, but I can't stand stupidity like that. I suppose you learned that the charm doesn't work on an object in a book?" he asked, making an obvious effort to sound friendlier.

"Well...yes. The books say it doesn't work." Hermione stiffly said.

"Have you ever tried it out for yourself?"

"N...no, the books say it's impossible." Hermione stuttered as she rapidly turned red.

"Just because a text book says something, doesn't mean it's always true," Remus said.

"You mean to say that you used Petrificus Totalus on that stand?" Fred asked awed.

"Yes," Sirius answered with a nod.

"Wicked, we've got to try that," George said to Fred with a beam.

"But the books say it's impossible," Hermione stated stubbornly.

"Books also say it's impossible for eleven year olds to defeat a fully grown mountain troll without being killed. Yet the three of you did just that with little to no training," Sirius shot back.

"Harry told you about that?" Hermione asked surprised.

"Of course he did. That's not the point. The point is that books can be wrong and you shouldn't trust them blindly," Sirius continued more gently this time before turning to the rest.

"We are done for the day," he announced to the relief of most. Molly sputtered but didn't dare to object as Sirius shot a glare at her.

"It's a bit early to start dinner though," Remus said with a glance at his watch.

"I know, I thought I could take the remaining time to teach Harry that Silencing Charm we mentioned before. That is if you'd like that," he said with a glance at Harry.

"I'd love it!" Harry said happily.

"Can we come too?" Fred, George, Ginny and Ron asked.

"I don't want any of you to use magic outside of school," Molly exclaimed, still pale but determined to stop them.

Sirius shrugged. "Fine, Fred, George you two can come. Sorry Ron, Ginny. But your mother said no."

Both groaned and gave sounds of disagreement. It wasn't fair, Ron thought. Why did the twins get to come but not him!

"Fred and George can't either. I just said no," Molly said snapped.

"We're adults!"

"They are right, they are of age, and you can't stop them if they want to learn," Remus said with a sigh.

"Harry can't use magic outside of school yet either," Hermione said as Sirius made for the door.

"If his guardian or a recognised authority figure gives him permission he can," Remus said with another sigh.

"But the Dursleys would never give him permission and neither Sirius nor you are recognised authorities so he can't either," Hermione proudly announced.

"Actually I can. Sirius is my legal guardian, not the Dursleys," Harry cheerfully said.

"But he's a convicted murderer. Yes I know he is innocent," she added quickly upon seeing the outrage on Harry's face. "But when people are convicted they lose all their parental rights. I read it in a law book and you can't tell me those are wrong too," she shot at Sirius.

"In this case you would be right, if I was ever actually convicted, which I wasn't. I was never even charged with anything and just imprisoned. So I never lost my rights, meaning I am still Harry's legal guardian. And I do give him permission to use magic outside of school."

Hermione looked like a goldfish for a long moment as she progressed what Sirius had just said.

"Then I can come too!" she declared as she moved to walk to Harry's side, making everyone look at her surprised.

"Actually you can't. As you so proudly declared I am not an authority figure nor am I your legal guardian so I can't let you use magic outside of school." Sirius said with a shake of his head.

"But my parents would give me permission if I asked," she said alarmed.

"Maybe. But you haven't asked, nor can you because they would want to know why you have the need to use magic outside of school. And that would lead to awkward questions which might lead to endanger us all. Not a chance we'd like to take."Remus said with irritation in his voice, making Ron realise he was getting tired of her attitude. And he clearly wasn't the only one. Sirius and the twins seemed pretty annoyed with her, too. Even Harry looked irritated by her constant back talking to Sirius like that.

"But this is a magical household. So I could use magic if no one told on me." Hermione said panicked.

"But that would be going against the rules. We can't do that; it would be unethical to go against your own principles like that," Sirius said calmly before placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and indicating the twins to follow him.

"Mrs. Weasley could give me permission." Hermione exclaimed spluttering as they moved towards the door, determined not to be left behind.

"She's definitely not an authority figure to me. And she would act hypocritical if she gave you permission while denying the other two the chance to learn something new." Remus tried to remain patient but failing as his voice held a strong note of impatience.

"But Harry can't learn something while I can't, too."

"Why not?" Harry asked confused.

"Because I am the smarter one, I should learn everything you do," Hermione said bossily.

Sirius looked at her with an unreadable expression for a moment before snorting.

"Keep believing that. Oh, maybe we can throw in a few spells and charms the Marauders created if we still have the time." Sirius said to the three looking at him, making them cheer.

Hermione sputtered again.

"Do stop talking before I am going to do something I might not regret," Sirius said to her with a glare before opening the door. "Oh, and return to the living room and don't touch anything else in here to prevent more incidents like this one."

Ron and Ginny both nodded but pouted when the door closed behind him.

"Mum! Why can't we learn something new?" Ginny whined.

"I don't want you to learn anything from him. And you should keep yourself calm after what just happened." Molly said in an attempt to take control of the situation again.

"We'll continue cleaning."

"Sirius said to go to the living room and to not touch anything else," Ron said, trying to get out from having to continue. Sirius had said no and they had just gotten a fairly good impression of what happened if his orders were ignored.

"Sirius is not the boss over us," Molly said angrily.

"No, but he's the expert here and I think one near death experience is more than enough in our family for today." Ron answered back as he took Ginny by the shoulder and pulled her to the door. "I'm not taking any chances." He made sure to keep his eyes on the door so he wouldn't be tempted to look at his mother's face, sure she'd be outraged. But he believed what he had said and finally understood why the others listened to Sirius. Hermione might be right in claiming that Sirius should recognise the stuff they dealt with, but it was clear that he didn't. And because he was aware that he had no idea about most of the stuff there he cautioned them to be careful.

He was taking the risks to protect them and Ron wasn't about to endanger himself or Ginny by tackling things they really had no true protection from.

"I am more than capable of handling things in here." Molly protested, looking taken back by her own son disobeying her.

"Ron's right. I think I've had enough of cleaning today. And I refuse to continue without Sirius present. If he hadn't forcefully moved you out of the way I would be dead now," Ginny said quietly as she let herself be pushed along by her brother without argument. Ron quietly squeezed her hand to tell her they were on the same page before pulling her out of the door, not looking back.

Hermione glanced between Molly and the other two before quickly following them with an apologising look, leaving Molly to stand with a perplexed expression on her face.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

Ron and Ginny were playing their fourth game of chess when the sound of voices appeared in the kitchen and they quickly wrapped their game up to meet the others.

Ron still felt some resentment that Harry had left without him but upon seeing his friend´s happy and flustered face as he laughed with his godfather he tried to squash it down. It was his best friend´s birthday after all.

"Did you guys have fun?" Ginny asked, unable to keep the jealousy out of her voice.

"Don't worry Gin, we'll teach you the charm when we're back at Hogwarts," Fred and George promised her upon seeing her disappointment, making her smile a little.

"Where are Hermione and your mother?" Sirius asked as he looked around the kitchen.

"Hermione went to her bedroom to read and Mum's in her own bedroom," Ron answered. "Why?"

"Good, because I gave Harry a memory of teaching them the Silencing Charm. So he can share it with the two of you and you can practise it while watching the memory. I'm sorry I couldn't include you in the teaching but I didn't want to make your mother mad with you," Sirius said softly, his expression sincerely sorry and Ron immediately felt better, knowing he wasn't being left out on purpose.

"How would he be able to share it with us?" Ron asked confused.

"I'll put my father's Pensieve inside his trunk and I've already showed him how he can use it," Sirius explained.

"What about Hermione?" Ginny asked quietly.

"I don't want any of you to teach her that charm. She has to learn that not everything can go her way and quite frankly I am disappointed with how she's been treating Harry and Remus these last few days."

"Don't forget yourself. I'm more upset with how she's been talking and acting to you," Harry countered. "She's always telling Ron he's being rude but she's been nothing but rude to you since I've got here. I won't tell her about the charm or teach it to her," he promised.

"Same here. Harry's right, the way she's been treating you is abnormal. She's so stuck up on authority figures and adults yet she talks to you like you are an ignorant ten year old," Fred agreed.

"Not to mention that she refuses to listen to reason and only listens to what mum has to say," George continued.

Sirius snorted. "I don't care how she treats me. I've not exactly been kind to her in return either for that part. I just want to teach her a lesson."

"You've only treated her the same way she treated you." Ron protested.

"Yes, but unlike what she seems to believe, I am actually the older one. I should be wiser and not let myself be baited into reacting to her behaviour."

"Tact has never been your strong point Siri. Normally I am all for acting grown up and being the better man, but she's trying even my patience and you always claim I have the patience of a saint," Remus said to him.

"Just to be clear though. You'd let us learn that charm despite mum's objections?" Ron asked, going back to the original subject.

"Of course, I wouldn't be a Marauder if I let that stop me. I think it is useful to learn so I'm giving you the opportunity to do so," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Mum would skin you alive if she found out," Ginny said, not in the least bit sounding uncomfortable because of that.

"I'd say let her try. I'm only going behind her back for your sakes, not my own," Sirius said.

"I don't doubt that. You've been giving her hell since Harry's arrived." Fred said laughing.

"Yeah, how come you are suddenly standing up for yourself?" George continued, making Ron marvel at their courage to ask the very question he'd been dying to ask himself but hadn't dared.

"Because I have had enough of her behaviour and meddling." Sirius said with a sigh. "When you guys just arrived I didn't really care one way or another but I feel much happier with Harry here so I'm done with letting people walk all over me. No matter who it is."

Ron didn't need to see the small squeeze Harry gave his godfather's upper arm to realize how proud he was of him. His wide beaming smile and proud expression told him enough. He was happy to realise he had been right though, Harry did have something to do with the sudden change in the man.

"But enough about Hermione and Molly and their behaviour. I believe you promised Harry you'd let him help to make pizza." Remus said with a smile, he too was clearly proud of his best friend.

"Can we help too?" Four voices immediately rose up eagerly, making both Marauders chuckle.

"I had a feeling you guys would say something like that so I had Remus buy enough ingredients that everyone can make an assortment of small pizzas for themselves with whatever topping you'd like to try," Sirius said with a wink to Harry who laughed.

"Are you going to teach us all how to make pizza?" Ginny asked excitedly, making Fred, George and Ron laugh. They all knew how much Ginny hated to cook. So for her to be so eager was very uncharacteristic for her. But Ron couldn't help but be excited too despite hating cooking himself. He had never had pizza, none of them ever had and to actually be involved in how it was made like this sounded like a lot of fun.

Harry chuckled. "That sounds like one of those birthday parties Dudley and the neighbourhood kids had while I was growing up."

Sirius nodded. "I know, that's the purpose of it. I know you've never had one of those so I thought you might like to do an activity like this with people you care about."

"So you're giving me a birthday party right now?" Harry asked surprised.

"If you'd like?" Sirius hesitated. He and Harry looked at each other for a long moment before Harry broke out into a wide smile, which Sirius answered slowly.

"I'd love it."

"Awesome! We're all guests at Harry's birthday party." Fred and George cheered before Fred looked at Harry.

"We should have a theme though. Parties always have themes. Like...everyone's got to be dressed really fancy."

"Or absolutely rubbish," George continued.

"Dressed up like something," Fred took over again, getting into the subject.

Harry laughed. "I don't have any fancy clothing."

"I do, I think you are about the same height I was at your age so you could take some of mine if you'd want to dress up," Sirius said with a chuckle. "Or we could just transfigure your current clothes into something else."

"Hm... that would be fun. Though I think it will be more fun if we changed our clothes in rubbish stuff. Oversized shirts, baggy pants and the like?" He ended.

Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment before grabbing his wand and pointing it at Ginny. Immediately her clothes changed into a baggy pair of brown pants and a blue shirt which slung around her frame. To make the look complete Sirius had given her a green cap which sat backwards on her head.

"Like that?" He asked, making everyone whistle loudly. Ginny admired herself in a mirror Remus conjured for her. "Cool!" She said.

"Yeah like that." Harry said in between his laughter.

"You've got to do us too!" They all called out and Sirius obeyed, teaming up with Remus to change everyone's clothing into baggy ones. Changing colours when asked till everyone looked absolutely ridiculous but how they wanted to look.

Remus looked at the bunch before turning to Sirius. "You know...we really stand out now compared to this bunch."

"Well that can't happen, can it." Sirius agreed, biting his lip to keep himself from laughing.

"So...what are we going to do about it?"

"Hm...Maybe we should have them decide for some new clothing for us too?" Sirius suggested.

"You should go Gryffindor style!" Harry exclaimed, grinning like an idiot in his baggy green pants and red shirt. He wore pink framed glasses and a purple baseball cap.

"Faded red pants with a golden shirt!" Fred called out in his own red faded pair of pants as his pink baggy shirt kept sliding over his left shoulder a bit as he moved. His orange cap clashed horribly with his hair but he looked to be having the time of his life.

"And a purple cap to match Harry´s!" George added, matching his twin perfectly only in reverse. His pants baggy and pink and his shirt tighter and red. But the same orange cap.

"With a lion on it" Harry added with a chuckle.

Sirius chuckled. "All right, shall I go first?" He asked as he took a step backwards and spread his arms a bit, making Remus laugh.

"Okay, how about this?" he asked as he changed Sirius' clothing into what was asked.

Everyone cheered as Sirius turned before Harry.

"Approved?"

Harry walked around him, trying to keep a straight face as he looked at his godfather's outfit. "It's not truly a shirt..But I think I can let it slide for once." He frowned. "I don't like the gold though, could you make it black instead but keep the lion?" He asked Remus, who obeyed with a chuckle.

Harry walked around Sirius once more before reaching up to turn Sirius' cap backwards. "Now it's perfect." He said with a grin.

"You look like a total bad boy!" Fred said while laughing hysterically.

"A good looking bad boy though. Can't deny that Harry was right about the shirt," George added.

"So I'm approved?" Sirius asked with a laugh.

"What do you think Remus?" Ginny asked as she looked at Sirius approvingly.

Everyone turned to look at Remus, who hadn't offered anything yet. But as they turned to him they noticed he was staring at Sirius with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

"Remus?" Sirius asked, noticing Remus staring at him. "Are you all right?"

"Hm?...yes...it's just...its missing something." Remus cleared his throat before summoning something from another room and stepping up to Sirius to put something around his neck. Everyone leaned forward curiously but Remus' movements were hiding what he was doing, though Ron could see he was tightening something around Sirius' neck.

Finally he stepped away with a small nod. "Now it's complete."

Sirius looked at him confused before glancing in the mirror. "Where did you get that?" He asked, his voice full of emotion as he touched the item carefully.

"What is it?" Harry asked as they all saw Remus had attached a black dog collar to Sirius' neck.

"Christmas of fifth year I spent the full moon at Remus' childhood home. The morning after he took Padfoot outside to play a little and I got caught by a dog catcher, which is exactly what it sounds like by the way, who wanted to take me to a shelter. To save me from being taken away Remus was forced to buy Padfoot a tag and collar. Which dog and cat owners in the Muggle world are obligated to buy to be able to identify their pets. This is that tag and collar." He explained as he touched it again lightly.

"How did you get caught if you were with Remus?" Fred asked confused.

"We were playing tag and I threw the stick out of sight," Remus admitted.

"And you kept it?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yeah. We changed the back of the tag though. Where it is supposed to have the address of the owner it says The Marauders to anyone magical. But to Muggles it's supposed to read Remus' childhood address in case something like that ever happened again."

"But why did you keep it?" Ron asked, not understanding why Sirius would want to keep such a Muggle item. Especially one that seemed to claim him as someone's property.

"I kept it on for sentimental reasons. It gave me a constant touchable reminder that I would always have somewhere to belong no matter how rough things got. A true family that loved me and accepted me for who I was. It was a reminder of having a home," he explained with a small fond smile that made Remus smile in the same way as the two shared a glance that spoke more than words ever could. It made Ron see more than ever before just how close they were.

Harry moved closer to him and Sirius stood still as Harry reached out to see the tag from up close.

"Padfoot," he read with a smile. "I think it's brilliant. Somehow it suits you too. Why did you stop wearing it?"

"I didn't. It got taken from me when I was arrested. How did you get your hands on it? I thought it was lost," Sirius asked as he turned to Remus.

"When Kingsley gave me your wand to return to you he also gave me the other possessions you had on you. I've been waiting for a fitting moment to return this to you, knowing how much you cared about it. Now seemed the perfect time." Remus answered.

"What reminded you of it now?" Harry asked curiously.

"The look he is sporting now is exactly what he used to wear as a teenager. Faded jeans and either long sleeved shirts or three quarter ones with a cap or sunglasses," Remus said with a chuckle at the expressions of the others.

"You're kidding me," Ron said with a snort.

"I'm not. He was a total rebel in every sense of the word," Remus said with a laugh as Sirius stuck out his tongue.

"You and James dressed the same way and yet I was the only one being called a bad boy," Sirius complained half-heartedly.

"I think it were your dark looks and the rumours going around about you combined with your believed attitude that gave you that reputation," Remus said with a pat to his back, making Sirius chuckle.

"All right fine. So what do you guys want Remus to look like?" He asked.

"Like you only reversed." Harry decided as the others looked at him. Sirius nodded as he easily changed his friend's clothing.

"Cap?"

"Sunglasses!" Fred and George called out and Sirius complied with their request, giving Remus a pair of sunglasses on the top of his head instead of a cap.

Ginny giggled as Remus looked at his clothing approvingly.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen either of you in Muggle clothing," Harry suddenly said.

"He's right. You both usually wear robes. Why did you guys stop wearing them?" Ron asked.

Sirius looked at Remus who sighed. "It is easier to wear robes because it lets me fit in a little more. If you as an adult wear Muggle clothing you stand out. And unwanted attention is the last thing I need with my condition."

"And what's your excuse?" Fred asked teasingly to Sirius.

"Clothing wasn't exactly a priority while I was locked up. And on the run clothing still hasn't been much of a priority for me. For the time being Remus' old robes fit well enough to use," answered Sirius with a shrug.

"With a double shrinking spell though so you could use some pizza to try and fatten you up," Remus ordered as he took a hold of Sirius´ shoulders and steered him to the kitchen table.

"Tough challenge. But accepted," Fred said with a nod as they followed them.

"Should we get Hermione to join us?" Harry asked a bit reluctant.

"It would be fair if we did," Ron agreed with the same hesitation. He knew that if she joined it would only be a matter of time before another argument broke out, especially with the way she had been acting today. Was it really worth calling her if it only meant a possibly fun activity would be ruined?

"I'll go ask her," Ginny decided for them as she left the room.

They all waited quietly for her to return, most unconsciously holding their breath till Ginny rushed back into the kitchen.

"She says pizza is greasy and fat junk that no one should eat. She doesn't want to be involved in us ruining our health."

"Good riddance," Fred let slip before he glanced at Harry. "Sorry..I…"

"Don't be. You are right, with the way she's been behaving it is probably better than she doesn't join," he admitted with a sigh. "Besides, truthfully I just want to have a lot of fun, not have her berate me for anything I do."

He turned to Sirius, who had been leaning against the counter patiently. "So…how are we going to make these?"

"Well, we can do it the easy and quick way or we can make them from scratch, which will take a lot longer," he answered as picked up Harry´s pet so he could ruffle his hair.

"We aren't in a hurry are we?" Harry asked to be sure while batting his godfather's hand away with a mock glare and putting his cap back on.

"Not at all."

"Then I'd like to make them from scratch. What about you guys?" Everyone agreed immediately, curious to what would happen.

Sirius smiled at their enthusiasm. "Now, it's been a long time since either of us made pizza so it's probably going to be a bit rusty at times, bear with us. Gather the ingredients you need from the counter." He said as he waved his wand and the ingredients they needed appeared on one of the cupboards, making everyone chuckle at his improvised school board. Remus had already measured the needed ingredients for each person in small sandwich bags earlier so it didn't take too long for them to collect their necessary items.

"All right, does everyone have their ingredients?" Sirius asked with a grin, when after a few minutes of noisy teenage movements they had all returned to their spots with a bowl and their packed ingredients in front of them. Remus had in the meantime given Sirius the ingredients he originally set aside for Hermione so he could make pizza's for him too.

"Right then. First you need to put the water inside the bowl so move your packed ingredients out." He waited till they'd done just that. "Now pour the yeast into the water and just leave it till it begins to bubble. This can take a few minutes so don't worry if nothing happens."

Everyone did as they were told and then stared intensely at their bowl to see what happened. Sirius suppressed a chuckle as he shared a glance with Remus and nodded to him. Quickly Remus produced a camera from a drawer and made a few photos of the group as they worked.

Harry chuckled as he realised what they were doing and smiled in gratitude at Remus who winked at him.

"So, is everyone's bowl bubbling yet?" Sirius asked as others had begun to notice Remus' action and stuck out their tongue to the camera before simply refocusing on their bowl.

Making sure he got murmurs of agreement from everyone and a nod from Remus who was walking around to check he continued.

"Next thing you need to do is add the ingredients to make the actual dough. Which by the way is what will make the base of your pizza. Take the flour, olive oil, sugar and salt and throw it into the bowl. Not literally Harry!" Sirius gave a yelp as Harry dumped the flour into his bowl, making a large cloud of white powder explode around him and Sirius who was standing next to him.

Remus laughed as he snapped a picture at the exact right moment while the rest cheered before adding their own ingredients a bit more carefully.

Sirius coughed into his elbow before giving Harry's cap a tap to make some flour rise from it. "Silly," he said fondly as Harry grinned at him.

"Right, once you've added the ingredients stir it all together till it becomes smooth and hard to stir through."

"This is though, how do Muggles get through that?" Fred asked as he almost pushed his bowl from the table in his attempt to stir. Sirius only prevented that from happening by quickly grabbing it.

"Once it gets too difficult to stir we get to the fun part. You get to knead everything together with your bare hands, which I hope you've washed before you even think of touching your bowl." Sirius added in a stern voice. Ron and Ginny turn red as they rushed to the sink, to the amusement of the rest.

"It's supposed to become a firm mash ball then right?" Harry asked as he held up a large ball of dough.

"Yeah." Sirius placed his own ball of dough onto the table so they others could see it before he walked around to see how they were doing.

"Add a bit more flour if your mixture doesn't become solid enough George," he suggested as he saw George struggle. The tip of his tongue was between his teeth as he did as Sirius suggested and whooped when after a few moments he saw it began to work.

"Who taught you how to make pizza anyway? Mum?" Harry asked as he watched Sirius help the others where needed.

"No. Your mum introduced us to pizza but Auntie Hope taught us how to make it," Sirius said.

"Auntie Hope?" Ginny asked curiously as she too had finished and was waiting for the rest now.

"My mother always insisted the Marauders called her Auntie Hope as Mrs. Lupin made her feel old. And she felt any friend of mine should call her Auntie if they wouldn't call her by her first name," Remus explained.

"And she taught you how to make pizza?"

"She taught me when I was little so when Lily explained that people made pizzas by hand and I told them my mum had taught me how to make it they practically begged her to teach them too," Remus said with a smile.

"Which she did, with a lot of trial and error I must add. You guys are amazingly good, especially for a first try," Sirius complimented the bunch.

"We have a good teacher. That makes it easy to follow instructions," Harry praised him back.

"So did we, but we still made a lot of mistakes. Your dad actually managed to make a mash of something not even Auntie Hope could identify."

"Dad really wasn't much of a cook was he?" Harry said with a fond shake of his head.

"No…he was good at eating food though," Remus said with a chuckle, making Harry laugh.

"Everyone's ready. Now, normally the dough needs to rise now till it's at least double its size. We are going to speed that part up a little with magic because I am too hungry to wait two to four hours for that to happen. Anyone any objections?" Sirius asked as he wiggled his wand between his fingers.

Immediately five pair of hands held their dough out.

"Though so," Sirius muttered an incarnation and all the dough´s doubled slowly but steadily.

"Do remember that this is actually cheating. Muggles need to have the patience of a saint to be able to prepare any food," Sirius lectured them half-heartedly. "But while we are cheating anyway, let's see whose dough rises quickest shall we?"

They all placed their dough on the table before them before beginning to urge and cheer it on as they all slowly rose magically.

Harry cheered as his stopped rising first and he did a little weird jive on the spot as the others laughed and congratulated him.

Sirius conjured a small paper crown and placed it on his cap to indicate his victory, making everyone laugh even harder.

"Now that we've cheated time, it's time to form the crusts. Normally you have to divide the dough into two equal balls. But since we are going to make several small pizzas divide them in four instead. Try to make them around the same size though."

Sirius smirked as he looked at them work before looking at Remus who openly grinned, knowing what was to come. "That done? Good, put a lot of flour on your work space and roll out one of the balls of dough into a circular shape. Or simply use your fingers to stretch it out to till it's equally flattened."

He shared another mischievous look with Remus before picking up one of his own balls and tossed it into the air before catching it and shaping it in the air with his fingers while spinning it around quickly.

"Wow! How did you do that?" Ron exclaimed as everyone looked at his action in shock.

"With a whole lot of practice. This is how the professional Italians, where pizza originates from, make their pizzas. They toss them into the air and then shape them with their hands in the air."

"Can we try that?" Fred asked eagerly.

"I erected some charms to prevent your dough from falling to the ground so go right ahead," Remus permitted them with a smile.

"Show us again!" Harry asked eagerly and they all watched intently and had him repeat the trick with his other six pieces till he had eight medium sized flat round shapes laying on the table before him.

Eagerly they all picked up a ball to try it themselves and soon dough was flying around in their attempts. None of them managed to do it, but they had a lot of fun trying while Remus took pictures and Sirius attempted to help them.

Finally though they had enough of trying and became serious again and shaped their dough the slower way before turning to Sirius again.

"Ready?" After five affirmative nods he continued. "Use your brush to spread a thin coating of olive oil over the surface of your crusts. Not too thickly though or your pizza will become really greasy."

He clasped his hands. "Now comes a preference. Pizza sauce. The most generally used is tomato sauce, which I am not a big fan of. So I usually only add a very small amount."

He showed them how to spread the sauce over the crusts and they all set to work again.

"You like the sauce don't you Rem?" he asked as he glanced at Remus.

"A bit more than that please," he said with a nod as Sirius indicated how much he was about to add.

"You're making pizza for Remus?" Ron asked, only now truly realising Sirius was making eight small pizzas instead of the four they were making.

"Yes. He asked so that he can be free to make pictures and keep an eye on you guys while you work," Sirius answered before glancing around. "Everyone added their sauce?"

More nods.

"Then now comes the funniest part. Choosing your toppings." He used the wand to move several bowls from the counter to the middle of the table.

"In these bowls there are things you can use to put on your pizza. Add what you'd like but don't go overboard. The more you add the harder it will be for the pizza to bake. Finish it off with sprinkling on a small layer of cheese."

"What's all in there?" Ginny asked as she glanced in the bowls.

"A lot of things actually. I didn't know what you all liked so I had Remus get some of the most traditional and popular toppings. We've got mushrooms, red and green peppers, onions, salami, ham, cheese, some garlic etcetera etcetera."

Harry looked into the bowls a bit lost. "How do I know what I will like and what I won't?" he asked.

"You don't. That's the fun part. And that's why you each have four small pizzas. So you can make four different ones and trade among yourselves to see other combinations if you'd like. Finding your personal favourite pizza is a quest one can only conquer by tasting it all," Sirius said with a cheeky grin. "Though I do have to warn you, the more cheese you add to it, the greasier it will probably get once it's baked."

They glanced at one another before starting to collect ingredients in their bowl to use.

Sirius turned to Remus. "I can't remember if you liked mushrooms or if it was James."

"James. I like them a lot, but not on pizza. I would like different kinds of cheese though." Remus added with a nod towards the different kind of cheeses spread out.

Sirius smiled. "I'd better make you a cheesy one then."

"Or two," Remus said mischievous, making Sirius laugh as he did what was suggested.

When he finished his toppings he washed his hands again before moving around the table to see how everyone was doing.

"You are a big fan of meat aren't you Ron?" He asked teasingly as all four of Ron's pizzas were covered in a double layer of ham and bacon and he was still adding.

"Is it too much?" Ron asked as he coloured.

"Only if you don't like a thick layer. I only suggest spreading it out over the whole pizza a bit more. Now you basically only covered the middle of your pizza, leaving the edges bare of added flavour."

"Like George did?" Ron asked as he nodded to his brother who had systematically placed mushrooms and cheese over his entire pizza.

"Yes. It ensures that everything heats evenly and the first layer won't remain raw in the oven because it's all piled up."

"Will we get to taste each other's?" Ginny asked from beside Ron as she carefully added some anchovies to two of her own and pineapple to the rest.

"You will just have to ask to find out. I would love to try yours though. It looks good," Sirius commented.

"You would?"

"Of course."

"All right, but only if I get a bite from yours," Ginny bargained with him.

Sirius chuckled. "Oh, that won't be a problem; you'll see once they are done," he cryptically said as he continued his round.

Passing Harry he stopped and stood next to him, sneaking some ham from his bowl before popping it into his mouth.

"You really are hungry aren't you?" Harry asked teasingly.

"We haven't eaten since seven this morning. I am actually surprised you lot aren't stealing bites."

"You didn't say we could!" they all exclaimed.

"I didn't? My bad. Though don't ruin your appetite now as the pizzas only need fifteen to twenty minutes in the oven."

He glanced around again. "Is everyone done?"

Affirmative murmurs were given as Remus slid several baking sheets onto the table after taking the bowls away.

"Good, now comes the tricky part. Take the paper Remus is giving you and spread it over your personal baking sheet."

"That's tricky?" Ron asked confused.

"Yes, very tricky," Sirius said seriously before he chuckled. "No, the tricky part is getting your pizzas on the plate without destroying them."

He picked up his spatula and slowly and carefully slid it underneath one of his pizzas, lifted it up and placed it onto the baking sheet.

"Be careful, as you can see they aren't very steady." He warned them as he repeated his action before moving to aid the others in their attempts. It wasn't too hard as their pizzas were only small though.

"And now?" Ginny asked eagerly looking at her pizzas.

"Now we bake them in the oven."

He picked up his baking sheet and slid it into the huge oven, standing aside to let the others do the same. "Careful, it's hot," he warned Ron as he stumbled to get his plate into the oven.

After everyone had placed their plate in Remus closed the oven and assigned the time.

They gathered around the table again to clean up their mess before chatting excitedly about what they had done while they waited.

"Do we need to tell mum and Hermione that dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes?" Ginny asked Sirius.

"Sure. Though should I make some soup for them instead since Hermione didn´t want pizza?" he asked as Ginny left the room to warn them.

"Can you make soup that quickly?" Ron asked surprised as he glanced at the pots and pans behind Sirius, half expecting the man to pull a perfect soup out of his sleeve.

"No, but I can have a pot of soup heated in five minutes." Sirius said with a chuckle as he opened a cupboard and showed them the contents, which contained various bottled cans.

"Why do you have so much soup?" Fred asked curiously.

"Because it's an easy meal for when I'm alone."

"But Remus is with you!" Ron exclaimed.

"Not all the time, he goes on Order missions regularly and I'm on my own then. It's not fun to cook for yourself," Sirius admitted as he closed the cupboard again.

"What's that smell?" A new voice suddenly greeted them and they all turned to see Moody stand in the door opening. "And more importantly what are you guys wearing?" he asked as both of his eyes took them in and his eyebrow rose.

"We're holding a birthday party for Harry," Remus explained as he looked down at his clothing, as if only now remembering they were dressed up.

"Congratulations. And that is the dress code?" Moody asked as his eyebrow rose even more, despite how impossible that seemed.

"Yes. If you wish to have dinner with us you have to dress like this," Sirius said with a wink to the children.

"I have no plans to stay for dinner. What are you making anyway?" Moody asked as he looked at the oven to see for himself.

"Sirius is teaching us how to make pizza," Ginny said as she re-entered the kitchen again. "They'll be down in a few minutes but don't want you to make anything for them," she added to Sirius who shrugged and sat down beside Remus.

"Their choice," he simply said.

"Idiots," Moody growled.

"Why are mum and Hermione idiots?" Ron asked curiously.

"You are teaching these lads how to cook?" Moody asked Sirius as confirmation.

"Yeah."

"Hm..." Moody moved into the kitchen, drew his wand and pointed it at himself before his plain clothes changed into a copy of what Remus was wearing, except his pants were black and his shirt neon blue with an yellow bow tie above it. On his head appeared an old fashioned pink bowler hat.

"Change of plan. I am staying for dinner after all," he said as he sat himself down at the kitchen table immediately.


	4. Chapter 4

_Contains some Molly bashing._

_Chapter 4_

For a long moment everyone stared at him before they all burst into laughter at the same time.

"I guess Remus was right," Harry laughed.

"About what?" Moody asked.

"That you would run for Sirius' cooking," Fred answered.

"Have you tasted Sirius' food before?" Moody asked.

"Not yet. Why?"

"You would run, too," Moody simply said before he settled himself more comfortable. "How long will it be before dinner is done?"

"A little more than ten minutes. If I calculated correctly then your dad should be coming home in five minutes so you can let him taste your creations, too," Sirius added with a nod to the rest as they set the plates Remus passed them.

"Don't we need cutlery?" Ginny asked as she eyed the set table.

"No, one of the best things about pizza is that you can eat it with your hands. We cut it using a special pizza knife and then you can just take a slice."

"So that is what you meant with it not being a problem to taste the other's creations!" Ginny exclaimed with suddenly understanding, making Sirius wink at her before he turned to the group again.

"Now, in a bit these will be done. Do you know how to tell if they are truly ready?"

"If they are brown?" Ron asked.

"If the cheese is melted!" Fred and George exclaimed.

"All three of you are right. The crust turns a nice golden brown colour and the cheese indeed melts on the top. Though the mozzarella won't melt very much, so you can't always take the cheese as an indication of readiness," Remus answered them.

"Pizza...it's been a long time since I ate that," Moody admitted with longing in his voice.

"You ate pizza before?" Ron asked surprised.

"I think the last time I had pizza was on his birthday," Moody said with a nod to Sirius.

"My birthday? That must have been years ago."

"Yes, Potter was just a few months old, I believe," Moody agreed with another nod to Harry.

"What kind of pizza do you like?" Harry looked at Moody curiously.

"Any kind your godfather makes himself," Moody looked at Harry with both of his eyes as he answered him to show him he wasn't joking.

Harry's mouth twitched as he tried not to laugh.

"You must have a preference," Ron frowned.

"No, I eat any kind he makes. Though the ones you made look interesting to taste."

"I'm never getting used to that eye of yours," Sirius laughed as he noticed Moody's magical eye was staring into the oven again.

"Didn't he have that when you were both in the Order the first time around?" Ron asked.

"No. Though you look more like how you used to with those clothes," Moody commented.

Sirius glanced down at his clothing before smiling. "The children choose it."

"They have good taste. Though I liked the phoenix shirt you and James used to wear, this suits you better, especially with the fine haircut."

"Phoenix shirt?" Several voices asked curiously as Sirius looked down embarrassed at Moody's words.

"Oh, I completely forgot about that!" Remus laughed. "He and James used to wear this shirt with a huge golden phoenix on it. It was their way of pissing off Voldemort after he had tried to get them to join him and they refused."

"You-Know-Who wanted you to join him?" Ginny asked surprised.

"He tried, we refused. He claimed he didn't want to spill too much precious pure blood and we were both Purebloods. But enough about that, your mum is coming downstairs," Sirius said as he straightened and moved to the other side of the table.

Moments later he was proven right as the kitchen door opened and both Molly and Hermione walked in. They stopped dead in their tracks as they noticed the weirdly dressed group.

"What on earth are you all wearing?" Hermione asked disgusted.

"Party clothes," Ginny answered as she swirled around. "Aren't they cool?"

"You look ridiculous," Molly snapped. "I want you all to change into proper clothing right away."

"Sorry mum we can't," Fred said cheerfully.

"What? Why not?"

"Because Sirius and Remus transfigured our clothes for this party. The rules are to be dressed up for as long as the party lasts," George continued.

"This is ridiculous, what party!"

"Harry's birthday party," Sirius answered calmly.

"They don't have to dress completely inappropriate for that," Molly protested angrily.

"Actually they do. It are Harry's rules and if Moody can participate then so can you," Remus contradicted her.

"Moody?"

"Don't be such a nag, Weasley. We're at a party," Moody grumbled from his spot.

"When did you arrive? You haven't been on duty have you been?" Molly asked, suddenly sounding a lot friendlier.

"I came to pass on a message to Sirius. I stayed for dinner. "

"I will whip you up something very quickly then," Molly said as she moved to the cupboards.

"I'm only staying because the lads made pizza with Sirius."

"You want to eat pizza?" Hermione asked disgusted.

"Lass, I'd eat tomato soup if Sirius made it and I cannot begin to describe how much I hate tomato soup."

"He _can't _be that good," Hermione argued.

"I don't care what you think little Missy, as long as I get my share of the pizza."

"Have you decided yet what you want to taste?" George asked.

"Hm…" Moody looked at the oven with his magical eye once more. "I admit I am curious to all of your results under his guidance so I might just try to steal a slice from you all."

"You aren't going to test them before eating?" Molly asked sceptical.

"In the old days I would. Constant Vigilance and all. But I know Sirius would sooner cut off every single of his limbs before letting anything happen to those two. And since at least Remus is bound to taste every single one out of curiosity and politeness I know they will be safe."

Molly gaped at him in shock and she wasn't the only one.

"You are really not going to check the food?" Sirius asked surprised.

"I trust you, lad. You have never tried to poison me before, so it is about time I start showing I trust you," Moody grumbled with a firm nod.

Sirius stared at him in shock for several long moments.

"As honoured as I am by that statement, you do realise that I cannot guarantee that all the pizzas will be ones you will like, right?"

"I might be paranoid but I am not an idiot. It is the lad's first cooking class so my expectations are not overwhelmingly high. If I don't like it then I do not like it. But it is worth a try."

"We won't fail you!" the twins exclaimed eagerly as Molly grumbled.

"Fail who?" A new voice entered the conversation as they all turned to see Arthur Weasley standing in the doorway.

"Welcome home, Dad!" all Weasley children chorused.

"Good afternoon to you all, too. What is that lovely smell my nose is detecting?" He asked as he sniffed the air.

"Sirius and Remus are teaching us how to make pizza, Dad," Ginny said as she ran to her father to give him a hug.

"Pizza?" Arthur asked curiously.

"Its Muggle food made out of dough and vegetables and stuff," she continued.

"Dough, vegetables and stuff? How did it taste? Was it good?" Arthur asked eagerly.

"You can decide for yourself. They are almost done. We've timed it so that you would be home in time to have a taste of their creations," Remus said with a smile.

"I look forward to it! Real Muggle food. Is that why you are all dressed so funnily? To be more like Muggles?"

"No, we dressed up for Harry's birthday party," Fred said with a laugh.

"Ah of course, congratulations Harry. And a dress code. Well, I can't stay behind then, can I?" Arthur said cheerfully as he pulled his wand and looked at the clothes the children were wearing before pointing his wand on himself.

Moments later he was wearing a copy of Ginny's though in different colours. A pair of baggy purple pants with a pink shirt under a yellow jacket. On his head he wore a blue fez.

The children all whistled approvingly at him while Molly looked at him scandalised. "Arthur!"

"What? It is the dress code, why are you not dressed up?" he asked as he sat down on the table beside Moody, pulling Ginny into the seat beside him where she leaned against her father.

"Alastor?" he asked surprised as he spotted his friend beside him. "Good gracious, I almost didn't recognise you."

"You look rather dashing yourself, Arthur," Moody shot back at him good-naturedly.

Arthur glanced down at himself before he let out a laugh. "I rather do. But look at those kids, they look amazing and those grinning and happy faces are something I find worth looking silly for. Whose idea was it to give Harry a birthday party?"

"Sirius," Fred and George said at the same time as they turned to the mentioned man.

"I should have known you were at fault. You always bring weird ideas into my children's heads," Molly complained angrily.

"Oh let them be, Molly. It is not often they get the chance to have fun anymore. I think it is a splendid idea Siri...oh my," Arthur trailed off as he finally spotted Sirius sitting next to Remus.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Ginny pulled at her father's sleeve, worried as he stared at Sirius with an unreadable expression but he blinked when his daughter called him.

"Sorry, for a moment I felt like I had stepped into the past. Seeing the two of you like that brings back memories," he explained with a smile.

"It's been a long time since we saw him wear that hasn't it been," Moody agreed and Arthur nodded.

"Though now that I know about your Animagus form it is a whole lot more clear to me why you wore it," Moody continued.

"You guys knew about that collar?" Ron asked surprised and Arthur and Moody both nodded.

Their answer made Molly and Hermione glance at it too as they hadn't seen it yet. Molly huffed but she clearly couldn't find anything insulting to say about it so she turned away while Hermione simply looked disapprovingly.

"What's made you upset?" Arthur asked, surprised by her reaction.

"She's upset because Remus and Moody claim Sirius is a better cook," Ron said.

"And that Sirius saved Ginny's life," Fred continued.

"And taught us some defensive magic and how to make pizza," George concluded.

"What?" Arthur looked at his children one by one confused before turning to his wife.

"Molly? What are they talking about?"

"They are exaggerating; he didn't save Ginny's life. He endangered her."

"I don't understand, Ginny were you hurt?" Arthur turned to his daughter to clarify things but when Ginny opened her mouth to answer she was interrupted by the oven bell going off.

"I'm fine. I'll tell you all about it after dinner, Dad," she promised before jumping up so she could get a good look at the pizzas, too, as the other teenagers moved forward as one.

"Talking about excited," Sirius chuckled as they all gathered around him. "I do need some room to take the pizzas out you know?"

In response they all took a few small steps back, which made Sirius laugh even harder before he opened the oven door.

They all peeked inside and gasped as they saw their pizzas were now indeed brownish and the cheese had melted.

"What do you guys think? Are they ready?" Sirius asked as he looked at them.

A chorus of confirmations was given and Sirius accepted the oven gloves Remus handed him from the other side of the door.

"Do you guys want to take them out of the oven yourself or do you want me to do it for you?"

They all looked at each other before they agreed it would be wiser if Sirius took them out which he quickly did. Holding the hot baking sheets above the plates they helped him slide the pizzas off till they were all displayed onto the table while Remus took a few more pictures before joining them.

"So...who made what or do you want us to guess?" Arthur asked as he examined all of the pizzas interested.

"We'll just let you all taste one piece at a time and you have to say. We're all out of course since we made them, as are Sirius and Remus because they already saw them but the two of you could guess," Ginny said after sharing a look with her brothers and Harry.

"That sounds fair enough," Moody agreed, slowly getting pulled into their enthusiasm.

"We could make it a contest. We all have to taste a piece of every pizza and give it a score," Arthur suggested to which the children agreed as they all took a seat.

"Harry, as the birthday boy it should be your job to cut them and hand them out," Fred said as he turned to Harry who nodded with a chuckle.

"Sure," he agreed as he moved to the pizzas while Sirius handed out pieces of parchment and quills.

"Do you want to reveal who made what or keep it a secret and see if they can discover who made what pizza?" he asked.

"The last!" they all readily agreed while getting comfortable on their chairs and accepting their quills and parchment.

When Sirius passed Arthur and Moody to hand them their parchment, Arthur grabbed his sleeve and pulled him down a bit so he could whisper in his ear.

"Thank you."

"What for?" Sirius whispered back confused as he looked at him.

"For letting them truly be children for a while. I haven't seen them this carefree for far too long and I can't thank you enough for that," Arthur squeezed his arm in gratitude.

"It isn't hard for children to be just that if you just stop ordering them around and include them in the simple things that you are doing," Sirius replied.

"You managed to make even Potter relax and have fun without worrying for a while. I'd not call that simple," Moody added just as quietly.

Sirius shrugged. "It is if you listen to them."

With that he straightened again to continue into the stream of chattering teenagers.

"Okay...Harry? Your turn," Remus took over as Sirius sat down beside him.

"This is absolutely ridiculous. Why do you need to make a game out of everything?" Molly asked annoyed. "Dinner is not a joke and should be taken seriously."

"If you don't like it then the door is behind you," Moody grumbled as he accepted his first slice of pizza from Harry with a nod.

Molly spluttered as she turned to her husband for support but Arthur didn't pay her the least bit of attention as he laughed at something Ginny said.

With a huff she turned and left the kitchen angrily. Hermione glanced between them and her before quietly sitting down beside Ginny and accepting a piece too, not wanting to be left out.

Once everyone had a piece the adults showed them how they were supposed to hold it before taking a bite, the teenagers and Arthur following their example.

"By Merlin's beard! This is amazing!" he exclaimed in wonder as he chewed thoughtfully before swallowing.

The teenagers all nodded in agreement as they enjoyed their piece, even Hermione despite her previous objections.

"Well...it is up to you two to guess who made which pizza. Oh, you should know everyone made four," Remus said with a smile.

"I taste mushroom so Ron and Ginny are out since they aren't very fond of it," Arthur took another bite.

"As are Sirius and Remus. There is salami on this one and I know Sirius doesn't like it and Remus doesn't use mushrooms on his either," Moody added as he too took another bite.

"You know their tastes pretty well," Harry said surprised as he finished his piece.

"It is what happens when you crash at their dinner table often enough," Moody agreed.

"So either Fred or George are left. I'd say…Fred," Arthur decided.

Moody took another bite and then looked at the twins. "I agree."

Fred laughed. "You guessed correctly."

"All right, bring on the next one. This was rather tasty lad. A bit lumpy at places but very nice," Moody complimented him, making Fred's smile widen.

"Next one!" Harry called out as he gave everyone a piece of the second pizza. It were only small slices since the pizzas weren't very big but no one minded as they all got to taste different kinds.

"Oh…don't give that one to Remus," Sirius warned as Harry passed him a piece.

"Why not?" Harry asked confused as he looked at the piece and gave it to Fred instead.

"Its baked fish," Sirius explained, making Remus wrinkle his nose and the rest laugh.

"I will keep quiet as I know exactly who made this one," Arthur said as he happily bit into it.

Moody glanced at him in suspicion before taking a bite himself and chewing thoroughly.

"Tuna, obviously Sirius and Remus are out. Someone's been fairly lavish with their layering," he took another bite.

"Why is Sirius out?" Ginny asked.

"Because he would never make fish ones if Remus is around," Moody answered.

"I wouldn't?"

"No and James didn't like fish so unless Lily or I specifically asked for it you didn't make it since you didn't care about it either way," he paused before nodding. "Which is why I vote for Harry, Not because I can taste it but because his mum loved fish."

"It's not mine. I thought about it but I had a feeling we would probably be tasting each other's and since Remus told us he finds cooked fish disgusting I didn't make it. I really like it though."

"Should have known you would think like that. Then Ginny as neither Fred nor George seem to particularly like fish."

"Yeah it's mine. I don't really like the result though," Ginny admitted as she wrinkled her nose to everyone's amusement.

"You know that if you don't like the result you don't have to eat it right?" Sirius teased as she reluctantly looked at her half eaten piece.

"Oh..." relieved she placed the piece down on her plate.

"Maybe next time you can add a bit less tuna. Maybe you will like it better then," Sirius suggested.

"There will be a next time?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"Sure, if you'd like. Ah thanks," he accepted the new piece Harry was distributing before looking at it alarmed.

"I completely forgot. Does anyone of you have any food allergies?"

"No...why?" Arthur asked confused.

"Because I suddenly remember that Fabian was allergic to nuts and this one has walnuts," Sirius spoke urgently.

They all glanced at each other before they looked at Arthur.

"None of mine are allergic as far as I know."

"Neither are you," Sirius reassured Harry as he bit his lip in thought.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, you always asked pieces of me whenever Remus had a bowl of nuts on our table and it never gave you a reaction. Moody?" he directed the last bit to the ex-Auror.

"I'm good. But smart of you to ask."

"A bit late actually," Sirius admitted.

"If someone was affected you would have healed them in moments. I can't even remember the amount of times you or James had to save Peter from his throat swelling because he was stupid enough to eat anything within reach without checking it first," Remus said, tensing slightly as he spoke the traitors name but Sirius gave no reaction other than to nod.

"Not bad," Fred suddenly spoke, having taken a bite from his piece already and the others quickly followed his example.

"This is actually quite good," Arthur agreed. "I hadn't expected walnuts to be nice like this but they are."

"No doubt about this one as Sirius gave it away already," Moody grumbled approvingly.

"I did?" Sirius asked surprised.

"Yeah, you said Remus always had a bowl of nuts on your table," Ron laughed.

"So this one's Remus'?" Arthur asked.

"I think so," Remus looked at Sirius who nodded.

"Yeah it is."

"You didn't make it yourself?" surprised Arthur turned to Remus.

"No, Sirius made them for me while I took pictures."

"You made pictures of the bunch making these?" Arthur sounded excited.

"I'll give you copies once I've developed them," Remus promised and Arthur smiled gratefully.

"Ready for the next piece?" Harry asked as he accepted the next pizza Sirius had sliced for him and handed out the pieces. Originally he had been cutting them himself but between tasting and talking Sirius had taken over so that he could keep going.

"Pineapple... that's odd," Arthur said as soon as he swallowed his first piece.

"Not bad...not bad at all. I like the combination with ham and cheese," Moody approved.

"I noticed a lot of pineapple being used so I am curious if you can figure out who made this one," Sirius laughed.

"It's a difficult one. Besides Ron all three of mine like pineapple and I know Harry does too," Arthur said as he looked at his slice.

"I go for...George."

"Harry," Moody decided.

"I made one with that combination, but I know mine is still standing with the rest because I put the pineapple below the cheese and here it is the other way," Harry frowned confused but Sirius laughed.

"I made one of those for Remus too so I think that one's his," he revealed as he picked up Harry's and sliced it so that Harry could hand the pieces over.

"It is bound to happen that people choose the same toppings," smiling Remus took a bit from the pizza and nodded approvingly at the taste.

"But Moody was sort of right. So it's three for Moody and two for dad," Ginny said as she glanced at her paper.

"Are you keeping the score?" Fred asked as he realised none of them had written anything on his or her paper.

Ginny nodded. "Yeah seemed smart since we forgot to score the slices ourselves."

"Good job little sis," George pulled her into an one armed hug to show his appreciation. Ginny laughed at his action before swatting him away.

"There are three pizzas with the same toppings," Sirius noted.

"Let's give them at the same time so they have to say three names," Harry opted.

"Unless they think they have been made by the same person," Fred commented.

"Pineapple again. What is that red meat?" Moody asked.

"Salami," Remus said as he tasted it.

"I can't say I truly like this one," Moody placed the piece down on his plate before picking up the second and tasting that one before taking a bite of the third.

"No...It's not the pizza itself, I don't like the combination," he finally decided.

"You tried all three of them to be sure of that?"amused Ginny looked at him.

"I said I would try every piece once so I will. Even if the flavouring is the same doesn't mean the taste will. If you've done even a single thing differently, then it can change the entire taste of the pizza," Moody explained before he turned to Sirius.

"I have to admit I am not entirely fond of this one myself either," apologised Arthur.

"Don't feel bad dad, you can't like everything," George said.

"But you still have to guess!" cheerfully Ginny grabbed her father's arm.

"That is not so hard. You and George," he answered as he pulled her close for a moment.

"I add Fred too. Three pizzas and the combinations are too much of a challenge to make two off, especially if they didn't know how it would end up," Moody logically added to which Arthur agreed.

"I made one," Ginny confirmed.

"We both made one, too," Fred and George spoke at the same time.

"So another three points for both," Ginny noted.

"What is that green stuff?" Arthur asked as he accepted a new plate with three identical ones again.

"Pesto," Harry frowned when Sirius accepted the plate from him but immediately passed it on to Remus who accepted it without a word.

"Aren't you going to taste it?"

"I'm sure it will be lovely but I can't. Not if I don't want to spend the rest of the evening in bed with stomach pains," Sirius apologised.

"How come?" Ginny asked.

"Because I've learned the hard way that my stomach can't handle spices and herbs anymore," Sirius explained.

"Why can't your stomach handle it anymore?" confused Ron looked at him before he noticed almost everyone was looking at him like he had grown two heads. But Harry suddenly looked alarmed as he realised something.

"We brought you chicken last year while you were hiding and I know that was spiced!"

"Yeah, that's when I discovered it. It was the first normal food I ate in years, wasn't pretty. Though it was very nice while first eating it," Sirius added almost as an afterthought, making the others wince in sympathy.

"Can't you slowly get used to eating herbs and spices again?" Ginny asked quietly.

"We are experimenting with it very slowly, but I'm not willing to take the risk, even if it's only pesto and that middle slice especially is much too..."

"Merlin's pants that is spicy!" Arthur interrupted him, quickly accepting the glass of water Remus handed to him and downing it in one gulp before Remus tapped it with his wand, refilling it.

"Yeah, that one's extra spicy," Sirius grinned.

"Gosh, Fred, definitely Fred," Arthur said as he stuck his tongue into his refilled glass, making everyone laugh before eying their own middle piece suspiciously before carefully taking a small bite.

"Yeah...I slipped with the green stuff, pesto you called it? Sorry," Fred winched as more people quickly reached for their glasses, he himself included. Only Remus and Moody didn't.

"Nice...spicy and tasty," Moody complimented him while Remus cheerfully bit into Sirius' piece.

"Do your tongues not have taste buds?" Ginny gasped around a mouthful of water.

"I like spicy, it is a shame you can't eat it anymore. You always made such lovely chicken," Moody shook his head regretfully. "But your health is more important than that chicken."

"I could always make it for you if you want. Just because I can't eat it doesn't mean I can't make it for others," Sirius shrugged.

"Does that mean we get an invitation for tasting it too?" George asked sneakily.

"There isn't much to it. Just take a chicken, season it properly and toss it into the oven till it is done," Sirius glanced at Harry. "Not literally toss, just...ow."

Harry slapped him on the arm at the reminder of his dough action, the other teenagers snickering before they explained it to their father and Moody, who laughed too.

"Hm...The other two pieces are less spicy, I like the first one. Not too much cheese but also not too much tomato...a little bit of everything. I vote for Harry," Moody said.

"The other has to be George' or Remus' then...but since Sirius made it...George," Arthur said.

"Both right," the makers confirmed, making the score a tie for now of seven for both.

"I have four of the same here...I don't know if you want to taste them one by one or in one go," Sirius asked as he looked at the remaining pizzas.

"Let's taste them at the same time. How come they are still warm and not cooling down?" Harry asked.

"Because we are cheating with magic," Remus answered with a wink.

"Oh...of course, I should have known," fondly Harry shook his head.

"Ron," Arthur said the moment he saw the four pieces.

"How did you know?!" Ron asked surprised.

"Meat, double meat, triple meat and three types of meat," Arthur said as he pointed at each piece in turn. "How could I not know?"

"It is a lot of meat," Moody commented as he bit into the first piece and chewing on it slowly. "A whole lot of meat. Not bad though."

"A bit ...urg sorry, just..." Remus grimaced as he passed his remaining pieces over to Ron.

"To overcooked?" he asked with a smile as he happily ate them.

"Yes, sorry."

"No problem, just means more for me. I really like the result."

"No surprise," Fred and George chuckled.

"How many pieces have we tasted now?" Arthur asked.

"Fourteen, Dad," Ginny said as she checked her list.

"So far I liked the pineapple, ham and cheese one the best," Arthur revealed.

"The pesto one from Fred for me," Moody countered, making Fred smile.

"Say, how come you call us by our first names now?" he asked as he looked at Moody.

"It is a party with four young Weasleys. It would be too confusing and impersonal to keep calling you all by your surname when we are having a party together," Moody explained.

"So you'll call us by our given names from now on?" Harry asked hopefully as he disliked being called by his last name all the time.

"If I feel like it, Potter," Moody grumbled cheerfully, evoking a round of laughter at Harry's pout.

"While you are pouting, hand over the next pieces. My eyes have been on those deliciously looking cheesy ones for a while now," Arthur's mouth watered as he looked at the pieces Harry picked up as Sirius had left the table to grab a new can of water and gave everyone refills. After having done that he sat back down besides Remus, letting Harry take over completely again.

"Oh... that's different," Arthur said as he bit into his first piece.

"What is?" Ron asked as he followed his father's example before his eyes widened.

"That's...wow..."

"I like it," Fred and George said at the same time.

"Different kinds of cheeses usually do it pretty good in a crowd," Remus agreed.

"The texture of this one is slightly different from the rest, which makes me think that the first three were made by Sirius and Remus...not sure which one since Sirius officially made them all and he has this way of making pizzas that leaves the crust evenly and without the small lumps the other pizzas have...I say Harry made the fourth one," Moody finally concluded.

"I agree. I was doubting between him and Ginny, but since I expect more fish from my daughter I vote for Harry, too," Arthur agreed with him.

"Correct, Remus had two, I one and I know Harry made one," Sirius said with a glance at his godson, who nodded.

"Yeah, Sirius said he, Remus and dad loved the cheese ones so I wanted to make one, it's quite good actually, my favourite so far," Harry smiled. "You are both very good at guessing who made what."

"A combination of luck and logic," Moody winked at him with his good eye.

"Hmm...The next one is a double once more," Harry said with a nod to Moody before he handed the pieces out to everyone except Sirius, passing his pieces on to Remus.

"You don't have to give all the spicy ones to me you know? If you want you can keep some yourself or spread them around the others," Remus said laughing.

"Yeah, but you are closest by," Harry admitted but Moody reached over and stole a piece from Remus' second plate.

"Watch it Rem, your pieces are disappearing before you know it," Sirius warned him with a snicker.

"Hm...I like the pesto and salami but the mushroom isn't entirely my thing," Arthur smacked his lips a bit before he shivered. "No, sorry guys."

"Don't worry dad, I don't like it very much either," Fred revealed while George shrugged.

"It's not bad, it's not as good as some of the others but not bad."

"Well...Ron and Remus are both out of the contest since they both had four already, Sirius is out due to the added pesto and you just revealed Ginny doesn't like spicy so that leaves your twins or Harry," Moody frowned. "Going by previous tastes I say the twins."

"Me too, they've made mostly the same pizzas so far."

"Correct. Though we haven't peeked at each other's pizzas while making them," George nodded before he looked at his twin.

"You truly are my other half," they grinned at each other at the same time before they gave each other a hug.

"Get a room you two!" Ginny jokingly called at them while Harry spread out the next piece.

"Oh...I ...wow," Arthur licked his lips before taking another bite. "That is good!"

"Hmmm no doubt in my mind who made this one," Moody said with a smile as he enjoyed his piece.

"I'd never have thought to use chicken and cheese combined but it is indeed really nice," Fred agreed.

"It has to be Sirius," Arthur agreed.

"Yeah it's mine," Sirius confirmed.

"I can understand why dad and mum tried to make you cook all the time. You have a good taste for combinations of food," Harry complimented his godfather. Sirius shifted a little bit uncomfortable.

"Thanks."

"Two the same this time," Harry smiled.

"Cut them a bit bigger Harry. I can't eat anymore or my stomach will explode," Sirius alerted him.

"You hardly ate anything," Ginny protested, but Sirius smiled at her before he leaned to her so he could whisper into her ear. "I'll cut a tiny piece from yours to taste this one. I did say I wanted to taste it."

Ginny smiled at him with a nod and when Harry gave her a slightly larger than normal piece she picked up his pizza knife to be able to cut a tiny piece from hers and gave it to Sirius.

"Thanks."

"Hm...Not too overcooked," Remus sighed relieved as he had taken a bite from his anchovy-covered piece.

"These are Ginny's," Moody said immediately.

"How did you know?" she asked surprised.

"Because your brothers aren't too fond of fish. I saw their reaction to the tuna one," he admitted, making her blink before turning to her brothers, who indeed didn't look to be enjoying their pieces overly much. She shot them an apologising look, but they waved it off by sticking their tongues out at her.

"It is a nice combination though. A basic with added anchovies," Sirius complimented her. "Not bad at all."

"Thanks!" Ginny beamed at his compliment.

"This one is rather basic too. It is a nice contrast to what we've tasted so far in its simplicity. This one's Sirius," approvingly Moody swallowed his last bite.

"Tame topping but very tasty. I like the combination of tomato and cheese with a little bit of ham spread around it. Definitely Sirius' work," Arthur agreed once he had finished his piece.

"I guess you don't need a whole load of flavour to make a good piece," Ron realised. "Now I get what you meant with spreading the toppings out over the whole pizza. You didn't dump the bit of ham in the middle but spread it out so that there is a little bit everywhere."

"Indeed mine."

"It is good that you are out, Sirius, because these are all with pesto again," Harry said as he cut three pizzas and handed them out.

"That makes it really easy then," Moody said as he picked up his first piece.

"Why?" Ron asked.

"Three pieces and only 1 pizza left for four people. We know Sirius doesn't use pesto so that leaves the three of you," Arthur answered him before he grimaced. "Oh...the combination of pesto and pineapple isn't a very successful one though."

"No...I like pesto but this is disgusting," Fred agreed as he placed his half eaten piece back onto the plate.

"I don't like it either," George and Ginny agreed.

Only Ron completely ate his piece.

"What about you Hermione? You haven't said anything since the start," Sirius asked her kindly, making the girl startle at suddenly being called out.

"I...some are rather greasy but some were very nice," she admitted softly without looking at him.

"Hmmm, it is mostly mushrooms and large amounts of cheese that make pizzas a bit greasy," he agreed, not bothered that she refused to look at him.

"Last piece. We already know who made this one but I am looking forward to tasting it," Harry noted as he handed the last pizza out and everyone bit into it.

"Another chicken, nice," Fred happily looked at Sirius, who grinned.

"I like chicken," he admitted.

"Doesn't this chicken give you trouble then?" Ginny asked curiously.

"It is plain non-spiced chicken."

"But...it is so tasty, how did you do that?!" Harry exclaimed.

"Sirius made smoked chicken fillets a few weeks ago and we put the leftovers into the freezer. When you guys decided you wanted to make pizza I took part of it out of the freezer because I know he likes it as a topping," Remus explained.

"You smoked the chicken yourself?" Arthur asked surprised.

"Usually. It takes some time to do so, but it's really nice on sandwiches and just when you want a bite to eat," Sirius admitted.

"Well, it is really tasty and my favourite of all. Though I must say that you did a splendid job with these guys. Their results are better than I could have expected," Moody complimented them all. "Of the children I liked the spicy pesto one from Fred the most."

"Hmmm...I loved the chicken with cheese, but I must admit that of the children I loved the cheese one from Harry the most."

"You won by the way, Dad. Although it wasn't entirely fair. If you hadn't called out Fred's pesto immediately it could have been a tie of both twenty," Ginny looked at him in mock sternness.

Arthur looked at her guiltily before he turned to Moody. "Alastor my friend, I am truly sorry."

"You will have to make it up to me by inviting me the next time this lot makes pizza," he ordered him, making Arthur agree. "Although I wouldn't mind if your wife went out for dinner on that occasion."

"Yes, speaking of her. You mentioned something that you would tell me all about after dinner," he turned to Ginny, who sighed.

"We were cleaning this morning when Sirius had to leave to put something safely away. He warned us not to touch anything, but I didn't listen and almost got choked to death by a coat stand," she paused as she bit her lip.

"Mum became really hysterical and wouldn't let us near enough to get her loose," Fred took over as he told their father exactly what had happened that morning.

"She blamed Sirius?" Arthur's voice was full of disbelief as he stared at his children.

"Yeah and then she refused to let us join when Sirius taught Harry, Fred and George the Silencing Charm, "Ginny complained.

"That is ridiculous, learning spells like that might just save your live some day," Moody growled.

"Yeah but mum wouldn't let us, and then she wanted us to continue cleaning after they had left the room!" Ron threw in.

"That is absurd! I will have to speak to your mother about that. How could she even begin to think about continuing after what had just happened. I'm really disappointed in her actions. But I am proud of you guys to have stood up against her wishes and following your instincts. You were right to refuse to continue after Sirius had told you not to. The things in this house are already dangerous enough to deal with when Sirius is present. How could she try to make you guys continue like that," he shook his head disapprovingly before he turned to Sirius.

"How can I ever thank you enough for saving my daughter's life? And I apologise for Molly's behaviour. I really don't know what's gotten into her."

"I'm glad she is all right, though you shouldn't have to apologise for your wife's actions," Sirius said.

"Could I somehow persuade you into teaching Ron and Ginny what you've taught the twins and Harry?" Arthur asked.

"Already arranged. Just because I didn't go against your wife's wishes doesn't mean I have to honour them. Especially when it is about the safety of the children. Harry received the memory of our lesson so that he can show them later without their mother finding out."

"Sneaky. That is exactly like you to act like that," Moody nodded approvingly.

"Speaking of sneaky. So am I. I entered this party without a proper present for your birthday," Moody apologised.

"That's all right. It is already nice of you to join us," Harry shrugged.

"Next year I will bring something along," Moody promised before he slid from his chair.

"You are already leaving?" Arthur asked.

"I was only supposed to pass a message for Sirius. I need to get going or I will be too late for my shift. But thank you for dinner, it was truly magnificent." Moody nodded to each of them in turn before indicating that Sirius should follow him to the study.

"What do you think that is about?" Fred asked curiously, but he was interrupted when Sirius suddenly burst out in laughter loud enough to be heard through the closed door.

Moments later they both returned, Sirius wiping tears from his eyes as he entered, and Moody quickly said goodbye.

"What were you laughing about?" Harry asked curiously.

"Dung complained to Dumbledore that I threatened him. And Dumbledore contacted Moody to pass a message to me that I should remove those charms from the house."

"Surely you aren't going to!" Fred exclaimed.

"Of course not. Dumbledore has no say in what I do in my own house. If I wish to protect my properties then it is my good right. And I gave him a fair warning."

"Why couldn't he pass you that message himself?" Harry asked annoyed.

"Moody had to be in London anyway but he did ask, to which Dumbledore answered that he was too busy to drop by," Sirius shrugged but Fred, George and Harry grinned.

"He probably had important things to do this close to the new school year," Hermione said softly as she frowned at their reaction.

"Or he is too chickened to face Sirius and Remus this soon again," Fred snickered.

"How so and what is this about charms on the house?" Arthur asked confused, not being able to follow the conversation so they quickly updated him.

"About time you put a stop to that. But why is Dumbledore too afraid to face the two of you?"

"Oh, we disagreed about something and told him how we felt about it. I can't get into detail about it yet," Sirius explained.

"That disagreement left the Headmaster a bloody mess and with a broken wand," Harry happily announced.

Everyone not having known that yet turned to Sirius in shock.

"You _beat up_ the Headmaster?" Hermione whispered disbelievingly.

"He didn't do it alone, I disagreed with Dumbledore, too," Remus defended his friend.

"Yeah, the all powerful Headmaster was sure a sight to behold. It was awesome," both Fred and George laughed.

"Remind me not to get on your bad sides," Arthur said with a smile while Hermione was still gaping at them in shock.

"Now...shall we let this lovely dinner settle in the living room?" Remus suggested. "I put some games ready that I think everyone will like."

They all cheered and quickly rose from their seats, putting the dishes into the sink for later cleaning.

Harry helped Sirius clean up the last bits while waving the others off to the living room already.

"Thank you, Siri," he said softly as he turned to his godfather once everyone was gone.

"For what?" Sirius asked as he looked at Harry.

"For the best birthday ever."

"I had hoped it would pass without incidents. But I suppose that was too much to ask," Sirius sighed.

"I don't care about that. Just this, having fun with you, Remus and the Weasleys...it was the best birthday I've ever had and I really enjoyed making the pizza."

He hugged his godfather close, ignoring the small surprised reaction from the other man before arms encircled him to pull him into a full hug. He rested his head against Sirius' shoulder, still only coming that high with all his fifteen years.

"I'm glad you had fun, and it's not over yet," Sirius reassured him as he held him close.

"I know...I just wanted to spend a moment with you alone," Harry smiled without moving, more feeling than hearing his godfather's quiet chuckle as he was hugged closer.

"Can't complain about that," Sirius said before he released him again. "But we should join the others or they'll start without you."

"Hmmm we can't let that happen," Harry frowned in mock seriousness, making Sirius laugh.

"Come on then, and perhaps if they are really good we might even feed the hyenas some ice cream."

"You have ice cream?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Of course, what birthday is complete without ice cream? And Remus got all kinds of flavours, too, so you can combine."

"Have I ever mentioned how absolutely brilliant the two of you are?" Harry asked and quickly moved to follow Sirius.

"How could we not be, with someone like you around?"

Sirius smiled as he stopped before the door and turned, pulling Harry once more into a tight hug for a long moment.

"Happy birthday pup," he said softly before picking Harry's cap up and placing a kiss into his hair before ruffling it up a bit and pulling the cap over his eyes.

Harry laughed as he readjusted his cap and slipped a hand into his godfather's to squeeze it for a moment. Then he grabbed his arm to pull him along to rejoin the others to continue the first party he had ever had with the people he loved most.

The End


End file.
